Secret Students

by Ysolt Usigan

For some nontraditional students, returning to school is an undercover endeavor. By day, they work traditional jobs: marketing professionals, office managers, and teachers. By night, they attend school, carefully separating their work lives from their student lives. These "academic moonlighters" are keeping their scholastic missions hush-hush in order to advance in their careers or venture off into new ones. Find out why they're keeping their educational alter egos a secret.

The reeducation of a corporate player
Paula Zobisch, 52, used education as an escape from corporate America. "I grew tired of working in the corporate environment--the politics, the very long hours," she explains. Zobisch, who had been working for a corporation as a marketing professional, yearned for a new start, and decided to add a Ph.D. to her credentials.

She enrolled in an online doctorate program because the degree would propel her forward, she believed. Zobisch didn't want a boss--she wanted to be one. She was able to dedicate time to her studies after work hours, so the flexibility enabled her to keep her endeavor a secret.


"The reason I was quiet about pursuing another degree was because I knew it would qualify me for a different career direction," explains Zobisch, "and I didn't want my former employer to think I was after someone's position."

As is the case with many secret students, Zobisch chose to circumvent the potential backlash by employing a don't ask, don't tell policy. "I didn't actually sneak [around with my studies], but I didn't call attention to the [fact that] I was balancing my career with school [either]."

As a result, Zobisch was exhausted most of the time. "My stomach and head hurt for a solid three-and-a-half years," she recalls. At the time, her days were 18 hours long. "There were times I actually couldn't remember which day of the week it was," she recalls. "There was so much to do that I was completely overwhelmed and thought about quitting several times."

But Zobisch persevered--she was intent on completing her studies and finding an escape from her job. She would come into work Monday morning, having spent an extra 40 hours on weekends doing schoolwork.

And still, when asked if she has any regrets, Zobisch, who is now a marketing consultant at Cox Communications, answers: "None! This turned out to be the career path of my dreams. Now I'm an independent consultant with flexible hours. My life has finally become my own."

Keeping secrets from family
In keeping her scholastic secret from her employer, Dianna B. (last name withheld to protect her identity) is also lying to her father. You see, the chiropractic-office manager works at her father's practice, while covertly taking undergraduate classes at night at Temple University in hopes of pursuing a career as a teacher.

"I've been working with my father for nine years," explains the 25-year-old who initially began working at her father's Pennsylvania office part time in high school. "I feel like I have a certain loyalty to him and his business."

Though she always wanted to earn a degree, she became content in the career security of the family business. "The money I make at my dad's practice is more than enough for me to survive and have extra." But now, Dianna B. says she wants more.

"Ever since I was a little girl, I've wanted to become a teacher," she points out. "I put the dream on hold--practically forgot about it--because I've been so busy keeping my father's business running. Everyday, a new role comes along and it spirals from there."

With each new responsibility, however, Dianna B. wishes she were elsewhere. "I want to influence the lives of children. I want to share my love of teaching and learning with them," she explains.

Sharing that aspiration with her dad is something Dianna is having a tough time bringing herself to do. "I don't want to give him any added stress. He recently had a heart attack," she explains. "For him to replace me would be difficult. He trusts me with many responsibilities ... you just can't get that level of trust with someone who's not family."

For now, Dianna B. is taking things slow. She's a part-time student, so her undergraduate endeavor could potentially take longer than four years. She's not sure how she will eventually break the news to her father about her true passion, but she hopes once she's close to earning her bachelor's degree, it will be a better time to tell her father the truth.

Gunning for the boss's job
For Tony Banning, going back to school is a secret he's guarding mainly because the promotion he is seeking is one his boss may resent.

"I'm not really going to school in 'secret,' but I don't care to tell my boss what's going on either," says the middle-school teacher who is simultaneously pursuing a master's degree in business administration. Banning's goal is to take on a bigger role on a school system--perhaps as an assistant principal or principal.

And even if his boss does find out that he's pursuing a master's--and gunning for his job--he doesn’t care. "There are plenty of schools that would take me if my principal didn't approve of my educational endeavors," he attests.

Toward that end, Banning keeps his master's studies separate from his day job. At first, Banning chose to school online because it was the best way for him to keep up with his day-to-day duties as a teacher and tasks as a family man. He realized that he has a personal preference for the traditional classroom, and is now attending a brick-and-mortar campus for his courses.

After he made the decision to school on campus, he was able to juggle some of his obligations by getting support from his family. "I've had to follow a strict schedule to keep everything in line," he explains. "My family has been understanding because in the grand scheme of things, this is what's best for all of us."

Banning sometimes is amazed at his accomplishments. "I don't know how I've managed to keep up with everything in my life--family, students, workshops, full-time and part-time work, school," he says. "One rule I follow, regardless of life's pressures, though, is to do whatever my wife wants to do on weekends."

Banning has seen couples split due to work and school pressures. "If you're going to take on the challenge of work and school, make sure your mate clearly understands what's going to take place in the months to come," he adds.

Whether or not you decide to be up front about your endeavors with your employer, family, or friends, that choice is yours. As these learners attest, sometimes it's just easier to keep your aspirations to yourself, and know you're doing what's best for you.

[via MSN]