GETTING TO THE POINT: Stephen Wells (ENGL '24), a Nontraditional Student with an Inspirational Story

Stephen Wells will graduate from Fitchburg State University in December 2024, with a degree in English Studies and a concentration in Professional Writing.  He's just like any other soon-to-be graduate, except that he has eight grandkids and started on his journey towards his degree 52 years ago.   Being a "non-traditional" student has its challenges (mainly technology!) but the joy of learning remains alive and well for Mr. Wells.   

During this interview with Getting to the Point's Zoe Chrisostomides, Stephen talks about his experiences in the classroom and his support system of teachers, classmates, and family.   It can be daunting returning to the classroom.  But, his advice if you're holding off on finishing your degree?  "Don't wait. Do it."   

Stephen Wells was a featured storyteller in FITCHBURG SPEAKS: Stories About What Made Us Who We Are, talking about how learning to read was the greatest accomplishment of his life.

If you're interested in working on the podcast, register for College Newspaper Production (ENGL 3830) or contact The Point at https://fitchburgpoint.com/contact-us/.   

Episode transcript can be found here.

This is Episode 3 of the pilot season of Getting to the Point  (GTTP), an affiliate podcast of The Point, the Fitchburg State student newspaper.  Recorded in May 2023.  It was produced by Toni Magras for the College Newspaper Production course taught by Prof. Wafa Unus.

Matt Baier (COMM '24) edited and mixed the episode for Perseverantia.

Click here to learn more about Perseverantia . Join us for programming updates on Instagram. Or reach out with ideas or suggestions at podcasts@fitchburgstate.edu.

Transcript

[ Getting to the Point theme fades in ] 

[ 00min 06sec ] 

Zoe Chrisostomides (host):
Welcome to Getting to the Point. I'm Zoe Chrisostomides. Over the next few weeks, we're taking this time to reflect on students here at Fitchburg State University. After the great conversation with senior Darcy Lally, we decided to explore the experiences of a nontraditional student, Stephen Wells. 

Nontraditional students are those who at some point put off going to college or took a pause in their studies to work, start a family or business, and found their way back to the classroom to seize their dreams of becoming a College Graduate. Stephen Wells will turn 70 this year and is graduating this December. He's majoring in English with a concentration in professional writing. One thing Steven found challenging is that technology and how it's changed since he first started college in 1972. But he has found his way, and I’m so happy to introduce him to the podcast. Steven, welcome.

Stephen Wells:
Thank you.

[ Getting to the Point theme fades out ] 

Zoe Chrisostomides (host):
So let's start off with what were you doing before you decided to enroll at FSU?

Stephen Wells:
I did have a job that – I became disabled and disgruntled, depressed, and decided that I need to get up off my backside and do something.

Zoe Chrisostomides (host):
I'm really glad you overcame that. So why did you decide to return back to school after such a long period of time?  I know that you said that you were disabled and depressed, but what kind of got you out of that?

Stephen Wells:
I have eight grandkids that – 2 of them are in college and two will start college soon. And I want to show them that no matter what age you are, you can finish.

Zoe Chrisostomides (host):
That's amazing.  What made you choose Fitchburg State University?

Stephen Wells:
I've been here before. So you've been here before? I was here in the nineties.

[ 01min 43sec ] 

Zoe Chrisostomides (host):
Oh, okay. So did you graduate in the nineties?

Stephen Wells:
Oh, no, no, no, no.

Zoe Chrisostomides (host):
No, you didn’t.  Do you want to talk a little bit more about that?

Stephen Wells:
Well, I could never decide what I wanted to do, so I’d start one degree and change to another degree and change to another degree.  And I kept changing and things caught up and life caught up – And I never finished one thing.  No, I got bored.

Zoe Chrisostomides (host):
So did you have a lot of doubts returning to school?

Stephen Wells:
Oh, yeah.

Zoe Chrisostomides (host):
What were some of those doubts?

Stephen Wells:
Technology, number one, I can use a computer. I'm tech savvy to some extent, but turning in work on the computer, not using paper a typewriter to turn in your work.  It's new.  You come to the library, you're lost. You look up something on the computer and get thousands of replies. It's a completely new world to me.  They have this new thing called YouTube now that I just now learned how to do that – one of the students showed me how.  Yeah, this technology is scary!

Zoe Chrisostomides (host):
So with your doubts and your challenges with technology, what does your support system look like? 

[ 02min 55sec ] 

Stephen Wells:
Number one, we'll start with my wife because she's one that keeps me going, supports me. Make sure I have time to study, do all the stuff. She's got her degree and she wanted me to have the privilege of seeing that, seeing that I got mine.  At school, the professors here are – I couldn't have picked a better school.  Most professors here are great. They care about you. 

If you don't feel good, whatever, they reach out to you. They are not so hung up on, on so much the time that it is done. And by 12:01, they fail you – they work with you.  The support from them has been tremendous. To be fair, I don't know if they're doing that because I'm the older and they're harder on the younger ones.  But that makes me feel kind of good.  

And I guess I get support from the student body.  I think for most of them, probably a good majority of them I’m the age of their grandfather.  And so I think that they take a look at me that that possibly I'm a grandfather figure and they start thinking about how their grandfather would react with different things.  And so three different levels of support are all important.  You can't just rely upon one.

Zoe Chrisostomides (host):
Definitely.  So you said that you had eight grandkids – 

Stephen Wells:
Eight grandkids.  Every week, I get a text message from each one of them asking how school was this week.

[ 04min 25sec ]

 Zoe Chrisostomides (host):
That's so sweet.

Stephen Wells:
And the ones that are in college ask me if I've done my assignments for the week – they're worse than my wife!

Zoe Chrisostomides (host):
Right. They’re keeping you in check.

Stephen Wells:
They’re keeping me in check.

Zoe Chrisostomides (host):
So now I want to hear a little bit more about your personal college experience. 1972 to 2023 is a huge difference, and I’m sure so much has changed, including the educational system.  So what were some of the challenges other than technology that you've faced?

Stephen Wells:
Yes, back then I socialized a lot because I was younger.  Now I realize that I don't need to socialization as much as I need the knowledge.  Also, back when I first started, college was more of a – I don't want to say more academic because the academics were always a part of it. But it was stringent, I should say. It was very stringent.  

Today you need the interaction you didn’t get back then. And so consequently, I was not ready for school when I first started back in ‘72. 

The biggest difference today is that you find everything online. You don't have to carry your books around.  Back then you had to carry books. The backpack wouldn't hold books for one week. They would hold it for one day.  And they were heavy.

And now we complain because our laptop is a little bit heavy.  People have no idea what heavy is.  Now you find all your books online.  And for a person like me, that is blind in one eye, I need the increased prep.  And so with the advent of the computer I’m able to see that. Back then, I had trouble seeing some of the print.  

[ 06min 12sec ]

Technology is a big step, it plays a big part.  But it's also on a new learning curve.  But, like I said, now you type everything and if it's wrong, you just delete it and re do it.  You don't know what typing is until you put it on paper. It's wrong. You read it all. Then you have to put that paper back to the typewriter. Bring it up, white it out, straighten it up just in the right place every time – unless you want to retype the whole page again. There’s a lot of challenges.

Zoe Chrisostomides (host):
Let's move on and talk about how you felt when you showed up for your first class.

Stephen Wells:
Scared.  I didn't know what to be expected. 

I'm a very slow reader, and so I was afraid that I would not get the reading assignments done. Those things were frightening to me.  Luckily, I had a professor in English that took me aside and she taught me how to – not speed read, but to read the important stuff that I had never learned in my life.  And that helped tremendously. So now, I've been able to do that.   

I am so ever grateful to her and that was important to me. So they saw in me – I think they saw the fright.  My eyes were probably like deer looking back to car lights. Yeah, I was, I was very scared – about what to do, how to do it. When to do it. 

When they taught different things, they used different language than what I'm used to. I knew what Google was, but I didn't know what googling meant. 

When you're home by yourself, you just don't hear these words!

[ 07min 57sec ]

Zoe Chrisostomides (host):
So would you say that the professors here have been a very big part of your support system?

Stephen Wells:
Oh, yeah, and the majority of them are available by email. I try never to to call because I know I don't like phone calls myself. But I always email and they're usually very good about getting back to me. And so I can't complain about that. They seem to love their job. They're happy with it.

Zoe Chrisostomides (host):
How does it feel to be instructed by someone who's younger than you?

Stephen Wells:
Different.

Zoe Chrisostomides (host):
Right? How can you elaborate?

Stephen Wells:
I start to say to myself things like, “You're teaching about the 1970s and I lived it! You weren't even born then!” Those things go through your mind.  But I have to tell myself “these are educated people.” Every one of my professors I’ve had, except one, has had a doctor's degree or more. And they know what they’re talking about.

And I think as an older person, I have to tell myself that sometimes.  They understand, they know what they're talking about, trust them. Both of my sons have their master's degrees and there's things that they tell me that I didn't know about.  But I have to say, they know what they're talking about. And so that helps me to also understand the professors at the same time.

But I  had to mentally tell myself that.  If I went in there, pretending I knew everything, I'd be dead wrong, because I know that's why I'm here.

Zoe Chrisostomides (host):
So now then your educational journey is coming to an end this December, I want to touch base on what's next for you. Your story is definitely different from a typical graduating senior, which makes me way more intrigued about your future.  

If you can, how would you sum up your experience here at Fitchburg State?

[ 09min 43sec ]

Stephen Wells:
I'm going to miss it. I really want to do an advanced degree and graduate, but they don't offer it in creative writing.  They offer 12 hours of MFA and creative writing so they only offer a certificate. I have thought about going to those 12 hours and then transferring to a different school. I would like to get my MFA because I need – for what I want to use my writing experience, I need the information.  I could find it online, but it sure helps when somebody else's teaching you.  I trust the professors here in that department.  I've learned so much from them. I would hate to go someplace else and be disappointed. So my goal is to continue to learn.

Zoe Chrisostomides (host):
So what advice would you give to the students here?

Stephen Wells:
Find something that you love and do it. Don't let somebody else tell you that you need to do this because that's where the world's going. If you want to be a teacher, be a teacher. You want to be a game designer, do that.  Don’t let somebody tell you it’s worthless. Do what you want to do.  Not what somebody else wants you to do.

You don't want to be my age wishing that you did. And so that’s my advice: do something you love.

Zoe Chrisostomides (host):
What do you think that you'll remember most about your time here?  Maybe the most memorable moment.  I know you touched base – when I first asked you about the teacher that pulled you aside, or the professor, I should say, who pulled you aside and how they taught you how to read.

Stephen Wells:
That's a hard question because it's not just one thing that makes up life.  It’s everything as a whole that makes it up.  And there are so many memories. I have memories of students I become good friends with.  And we email each other.  And when they're not in class or they're having a bad week, I reach out to them.

They reach out to me. And that's that's memorable. When you have that, a young people reaching out to a person who's much older, it means a lot.  Really it does.  To have professors who care, it means a lot.  To have a piece of paper saying that you accomplished something, also means a lot. So there's many things that's going to be memorable that I hope I never forget.

[ 12min 10sec ]

Zoe Chrisostomides (host):
And my last question today that I'm going to ask – what advice would you give to nontraditional students like yourself who are thinking about taking that last step to finish your college education?

Stephen Wells:
Don't wait.

Zoe Chrisostomides (host):
Don't wait.

Stephen Wells:
Don't wait.  Do it. If you can do it, do it. Even if you have to take one class a semester, do it. Just keep at it because once you stop like I did, it's harder to get started back up again. It is very difficult and then you're lost because – where do I start? Where do I begin? What do I do?  What's important? What notes do I take? One notes still have these things run through your mind because you have been into the system long enough. And, so even if it’s just one class go. Go some place.  If the college is not good for you. Find another one. You know you don't have to be stuck with one. We got plenty of them around. So go – find one that works for you.  

And then I have to say an important point is always take a summer off, take that break, enjoy that time, be with your family, go someplace, do something, go to the beach.  You don’t have to worry about homework or anything else. Just do it. But we are into a world today where everything has to be instantaneously.  It has to be quick. 

We need to get it within four years. You know, if it takes you six years, do six years, but enjoy your family because they are only there for a short while.  And pretty soon they're going to be gone and you're going to be missing them.  So that's my advice.

[ 14min 45sec ]

[ Getting to the Point theme fades in ] 

Zoe Chrisostomides (host):
Steven, thank you so much for your time today. You are truly very inspiring and I hope others who are afraid to take that jump back into education learn from your experience. Learning never has an expiration date and you taught us that today. Thank you so much again and thank you for everyone for tuning in.

[ Getting to the Point theme fades continues ] 

Getting to the Point is an affiliate of The Point,  Fitchburg State’s Student’s newspaper. We want to hear from you, our listeners. Your feedback, questions, and story ideas are crucial to shaping the content we produce. Reach out to us through our website or social media platforms. If you are interested in working on the podcast, register for our College Newspaper Production, ENGL 3830.

[ Getting to the Point theme fades out]

[ 14min 44sec ] 

[ Perseverantia theme music fades in ] 

Jake Snyder:
My name is Jake Snyder a senior from Holden, Massachusetts, majoring in Communications Media – and you’re listening to Perseverantia, the Fitchburg State Podcast Network.

[ Perseverantia theme music fades out ]