By Robert K. Wright
December 2022 marks ten years of being a college-educated man in America. On December 8, 2012, I graduated from the University of Louisiana Monroe with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in History. Dr. Nick Bruno was the president, and it was a pleasure to walk across the stage and shake his hand, completing the challenge I undertook in 2009. But my race to the finish line began in 1996 at Northeast Louisiana University.
I enrolled as a Freshman at NLU and majored in Physical Education. I decided to join the track and field team after never participating in sports throughout my childhood. I trained for the 200-meter relay and surprisingly ran the 40-meter sprint in 4.5 seconds, a speed that exceeded some of the team members that were recruited with scholarships. However, my time on the team would be brief as I was not in school on a scholarship and found it difficult to continue without funding. Because I wasn’t a recruited athlete, the coach said that funds for a walk-on were not available. I chose not to continue training and later decided I was done with the whole idea of college. I decided, however, to join the Marines.
For thirteen years, I ran away from college. Even after a few attempts to try again, all of them were met with the decision to drop out and try something else. I engaged in business pursuits with photography and graphic design. However, subconsciously, I knew I needed to finish the race. I was defensive in my unwillingness to finish the degree saying “I’m a businessman. I’m making money without a college degree.” Then one day during those collegiate denial years, one of my high school friends, Katrina Jackson, advised that I shouldn’t hustle all of my life, for one day I’d want to retire. My mother even said for years “It’s better to have it (degree) and not need it than to need it and not have it.”
So, in 2009, at the age of 31, I gave in and submitted to the task. Unfortunately, ULM was not going to make the challenge easy for me. The university reminded me that I had debts on the books and I could not re-enroll without paying those debts. So, I sold my car, furniture, and many other items to pay off the debt which was a few thousand dollars. After the debt was cleared, the Registrar allowed a one-time GPA wipe of my previous classes, which resulted in me repeating 12 hours of coursework. Back to the starting blocks for me.
During that three-year residency at ULM, I found my passion for history. With professors like Dr. Horace P. Jones and Dr. Monica Bontty, I was able to see the finish line clearly which made running the race a little easier. I completed the entire Bachelor’s Degree in three years.
At my commencement in 2012, the commencement speaker for the ceremony was then Louisiana State Representative Katrina Jackson. The theme of her commencement address was “Dance with Time.” She spoke about the many graduates who made sacrifices to complete their educational requirements. She even called my name, to my surprise, and spoke of my prior military service. I thought it was sensational.
Since graduation in 2012, I have done exactly that. I continued running the Warhawk Race. I didn’t just stop at the Bachelor’s Degree. I was persistent for as long as it took to get the Master’s Degree as well. In 2020, during the middle of a global pandemic, I completed the requirements for the Master of Arts Degree in History. Because of social guidelines, the commencement was virtual and instead of walking across the stage, I waited for my name to flash on the computer screen. Virtual or in-person, it didn’t matter, the Warhawk Race had been won and it was final.
What began as a desire to be a runner on a track found me in a race against myself. We can tell ourselves what we choose to shield us from the need for proper education and education will still be there waiting on us. “Not everyone is cut out for college” “People need other options than a four-year university” “I can’t afford it” “I don’t have the time for it” and “I can make more money without a degree”. The list of excuses continues. From someone who was adamant about not needing a college degree, who had technical skills and could work well with my hands in a vocational field, the college experience I enjoyed at ULM changed that mindset. Education is for you. It’s not for a job. It’s not to make your family proud. It’s for you…and you alone.
My talons are out and I’m not on the ground running anymore. I’m flying high excited about the next ten years of adventure as an educated man in America.
