Karen Cole had regretted something for more than 26 years: dropping out of college before completing her degree. For Karen, going back to school wasn’t an easy decision, but she knew she had to start listening to her inner voice.

“I started seeing KU Edwards Campus ads all over the place, ‘go ahead, go back,’” she said. “I cut out one of the ads, put it on my refrigerator, and found myself wondering, maybe?”

Karen attended KU in 1974. At age 17 she was uninterested in school and did not have the dedication needed to be a full-time student. When Karen was approaching age 50, she had experienced a series of life-changing events and was reviewing her life.

“I began thinking about past regrets, and not finishing at KU ranked pretty high,” she said. So she called the Edwards Campus and asked the questions she’d asked herself for years.

Karen learned the KU Edwards Campus offers many resources to support her as an adult student going back to school. If offered all the necessary tools to complete an undergraduate degree in the literature, language, and writing program.

“I felt the Edwards Campus would be sensitive to my needs as a non-traditional student,” she said.

Karen liked the idea of a smaller campus with evening classes because of her work schedule. Safety was a concern because of her late classes, but after visiting she realized the Campus had plenty of close parking available. Karen also felt the age diversity of students at the Edwards Campus would enhance her classroom experience.

“I am here for reasons of the heart. My goal is actually the journey as much as the end,” she said.

Karen has excelled in her program and has been nominated three times for the Pee Dee Brown Nontraditional Writing Award. In 2007, she won it!

Karen’s son is also a KU student and is currently completing his degree at the Lawrence campus. He’s proud to call his mother a fellow Jayhawk.

“I can't even begin to tell you the emotional satisfaction I've received,” she said. “I've done well, and have proven to myself I can succeed at an institution as prestigious as KU.”