Though the majority of college students come to college right after high school, there are some that chose alternative paths. Some people start college, then stop and do something else for a period of time. Some work right after high school. Other choose to raise children, putting family before their own education.
Not everyone has the same path to college.
TURNING LIFE AROUND
William "Buck" Buckingham, a sophomore education major, is 49 years old. Buck married young and dropped out of high school, he said. He worked at a variety of jobs including construction and on the kill floor of a slaughter house.
"I still can't sharpen a knife," Buckingham said. "I'm just terrible at manly-man jobs."
However, Buckingham never enjoyed his jobs and felt bad about himself.
"I felt like my soul was being taken away," Buckingham said.
When Buckingham's daughter was eight years old, an opportunity arose.
There were two opportunities, really: the opportunity for his daughter to play softball and a chance for Buckingham to coach the softball team.
Buckingham quickly realized that he enjoyed coaching and that he was good at it.
"I felt like I belonged," Buckingham said.
After that, Buckingham coached at public schools and through that realized he wanted to go to college.
Buckingham attended a college in the Philadelphia area where he lived.
Then his youngest daughter got cancer. After five years, she died.
Following her death, Buckingham said he lost motivation and grew bitter. He left his wife and said that he physically stopped taking care of himself.
"If you believe, you have to trust God," Buckingham said. "I turned my back instead."
Then in October of 2003, Buck had a stroke.
While recovering, Buckingham said he had a vision from God. He saw himself in elementary school walking down a hallway. Buckingham said that he knew that God cared for him and had a hand in his life even then.
After his vision, Buckingham made the choice to turn his life around.
He decided to return to college and the church.
While at church, he met his wife, who is an architecture student at Ball State University. They married and both plan to finish college.
Recently Buckingham heard that Prairie Grove Community Church was looking for a youth group leader.
He will be starting his new job as youth leader soon.
MAMA JEWELS
Julie Swisher, a senior history major, is 41 years old. She came to Ball State after the second factory she worked for closed.
Swisher, who has been married for 21 years and has three children, lives in Elliot Hall.
"It's too expensive to drive back and forth," Swisher, who is from Decatur, Ind., said.
Swisher home-schooled her own children for 12 years.
To the other students in Elliot, she is Mama Jewels. Swisher is also older than her hall director, she said.
Though she may have some differences from the other residents in her hall, Swisher has had some of the same experiences as anyone else, including her first C in a class.
"My husband grounded me," she said.
Swisher said though her professors have been excellent and most students are very accepting, she has had some issues.
"Some students look at me like 'what are you doing here?'" Swisher said.
Though Swisher loves Elliot Hall, she is not encouraging her own children to come to Ball State, in part because of the residence halls.
The residence halls lack a sense of community, she said. Community cannot be fostered when there are more than 1,000 people in a hall.
New Life "Style"
Bill Craig, a freshman journalism major, is 46 years old. He came to Ball State after his wife, Barb, started going to school here. Both Craig and his wife are hair stylists.
"There's no money in hair," Craig said.
Craig plans to finish college this time; he was a journalism major 23 years ago.
Craig said he sees a difference in himself and his view of things. He said that he approaches things with slightly more jaded eyes.
However, Craig said that he has been pleasantly surprised at how friendly students and professors are.
In addition to styling hair and returning to school, Craig writes novels. So far he has had five of his novels published, and they can be found on Amazon.com.
Although Craig likes most of his classes at Ball State, there is one, he said, he fears.
"Math scares the hell out of me," he said.
Craig said the way in which people approach learning and college is important.
"Approach each day as if it's a new adventure," Craig said.
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