Classes, kids and carpools
Nontraditional students have other ways to go out
Matt Irwin Special to the Kansan
For most of the school year, Kathie Pelan goes out almost every day of the week.
Except for Pelan, going out means going to a gymnasium or a soccer field to watch her children practice or play a game.
For many nontraditional students like Pelan, their definition of going out is different than the average KU student's. Because of finances and the responsibilities of marriage and children, going to bars or movies and dining out are not always options for these students.
Nontraditional students fall into one of the following categories: They are more than 24 years old, commute more than 10 miles, have children or are married or are veterans.
Pelan, for example, a 35-year-old Lawrence sophomore, is married and has three children. She takes her daughter to gymnastics training four days a week and attends her son's basketball games on Friday nights and both of her sons' soccer games on Saturdays.
"That is my recreation time," Pelan said. "It gets my mind off school."
Not every nontraditional student's life revolves around marriage and kids.
Some, like Michael Brown, a 29-year-old Eugene, Ore., first-year graduate student, go out with traditional students. Brown is single and has no children, so he has time to
go out Fridays, Saturdays and sometimes after classes during the week with classmates.
However, many other nontraditional students lead different lives than the average college student. Marriage, children and financial needs play significant roles in what they can and can't do.
One of the options for nontraditional students is a group called OAKS, Non-Traditional Students Organization. On Tuesdays and Wednesdays, OAKS members have a brown-bag lunch together at one of the unions. During spring break, the group sponsors activities for students who stay in Lawrence, including a night of bowling and a golf tournament. OAKS also holds a Stop Day party. This year it will be at Dos Hombres, 815 New Hampshire St.
Gerri Vernon, 35-year-old Colby graduate student and president of OAKS, said that about 450 people had responded to newsletters sent out by OAKS at the beginning of the year. Although the group has a membership of about 450, Vernon said that there were only about 30 to 40 active members. This reflects the difficulty many nontraditional students have finding time for extracurricular activities.
Vernon said OAKS was a support network for undergraduate, nontraditional students. But many graduate students are also a part of the group. Vernon said nontraditional graduate students often met in classes and tried to support one another.
"We try to get new people to feel comfortable," he said. "That's what we're there for."
Vernon said that OAKS also held a "coffee clutch" on the fourth Tuesday of every month. Only four people showed up to the
Vernon said the group planned to advertise the event more in the future.
January session.
Pelan said that she felt lucky to have a husband who worked so she did not have to but that she still must manage her studies between caring for her children and attending practices or games. She said she could often squeeze in time to study during her daughter's gymnastics training.
To help manage her time better, Pelan has become resourceful, she said.
"I'm a professional car-pooler," she said. "I'm very good at saying, 'If you drive, I'll pick up.'"
When the family does not have a sporting event to attend, Pelan said, they enjoyed going out to eat, renting a movie or going to a $1 movie theater.
Pelan and her husband, however, try to find time to be alone with each other. Sometimes, when one of their children makes plans to stay over at a friend's house, she arranges for the other children to stay somewhere, as well, she said. She and her husband plan a big meal — using the fancy china — and afterward enjoy a quiet evening watching a rented movie while sitting in front of a warm fire.
Vicki Thompson, a 34-year-old Lawrence senior, has a son, but she has more options for going out. Thompson said she planned to marry Terry Schmidt, a 35-year-old Lawrence junior, in May.
One reason Thompson and Schmidt are able to go out more is because Thompson's 16-year-old son can look after Schmidt's 5-year-old daughter.
Thompson said that they tried to limit going out to weekends because of their
Heather Lofflin / KANSAN
Kathie Pelan, Lawrence sophomore, works on calculus during her son's Lawrence Parks and Recreation junior high basketball practice at Pinckney Elementary School.
children's needs and school but that they participated in volleyball during the fall and softball during the summer. Thompson said that after they played volleyball, they sometimes went out to a bar to chat with friends.
Even though they occasionally take these small breaks to release the pressures of school and studying, they still are busy most of the time.
Because of their busy schedules, Thompson and her fiance are forced to organize their studying so that they can take care of their children and still do well in school.
"I don't know what I'd do if I had a lot of time on my hands," Thompson said.
February 11, 1994 THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN •THE GUIDE TO GOING OUT