Starting Over Second Careers

By JoEllen Wilson

For many, a life plan often takes the route of finishing high school, attending college, getting a job, marrying and having children. However, this traditional path is rarer
than you think. Many take a more non-traditional path like I did.

Let me start at the beginning . . .

I was a traditional-age college student. I entered Reinhardt after high school and graduated in two years from this excellent junior college. Then, John Wilson and I married. I continued studying for my B.A. degree in elementary education at night school while working during the day. In 1967, our children were born. So begins starting over.

Starting Over #1

Our twin sons were born 2 months prematurely when I was a junior at Oglethorpe University. My ambition was to finish college and begin my teaching career, as my children grew with me. However, these two tiny babies (weighing about 3 pounds each) required almost two months of hospitalization and constant care. So I left college, quit my job and devoted myself to bringing these two precious children home from the hospital and helping them grow into healthy, productive men. I always knew I would  finish my degree one day, but I had to be patient. The adjustments I made to be a full-time mother took perseverance and hard work (of a different kind). However, I made the adjustment willingly and happily, with full support from my husband, knowing my family came first. It is a decision I have never regretted.

Starting Over #2

I waited until my children were ten years old to go back to work. By that time, my career objectives had taken a different turn. No longer did I aspire to be an elementary school teacher; I wanted a career in higher education. I began my profession with Reinhardt College as a part-time employee. Soon, I became full-time  and worked ten years as alumni director. During this time, I knew if I was going to build a career in higher education, I should have some myself (higher education, that is)! So I went back to college after being away from school for twenty years, this time to study business administration. At the time, my sons had already graduated from the University of Georgia. I guess the hardest part of being in college when they had finished was knowing my children would be looking at my grades, as I had done with theirs for so many years. Talk about pressure to make all As!

Starting Over #3

I remember working at Reinhardt each day, driving to Oglethorpe University in Atlanta three nights per week, and finally receiving my undergraduate degree at age fifty. It took a long time I was not able to take a full load of classes while working full-time, but I knew I could finish if I was resilient.  Graduation was exhilarating! Imagine your husband, mom, dad, sister and SONS cheering for you as you walk across the commencement stage.

Starting Over #4

If youve worked in one job for a number of years, you understand the meaning of burn-out. Although I loved my job as alumni director, enjoyed my constituents and colleagues, and really wanted to remain at the college, I knew I could not continue to go to work with the enthusiasm required to be successful. I made an appointment with the president to let him know I needed to find something else. I figured there was no other place for me at Reinhardt, since a masters degree is required for faculty and upper administration, and I had only recently achieved a bachelors degree. President Floyd Falany encouraged me to go back to college and promised I could work as a special assistant until I finished. It took another long five years, but I completed a Master of Education degree from Brenau University at the young age of 55.

Starting Over #5

Thomas Isherwood became president of Reinhardt in 2001 and promoted me to vice president after a short nine months. In making this appointment, he had to approach a board of trustees who had never worked with a woman as a permanent vice president. He assured them I was capable at the administrative level, and they approved the appointment unanimously. I was also hired as an adjunct instructor in the Education Department.

Finally, I had made it to upper management in higher education and had faculty status after years of dreaming and starting over and over and over.

The secret? Its really not a secret, it is simply resilience, tenacity, hard work and people who believe in you because of these traits. Even if you enter the job market after your children are older and finish college after the age of fifty, you CAN do it. Im living proof!

P.S. I retired from higher education in June 2016 and was re- elected to Canton City Council in November 2016. The starting over continues . . .