By Rosanna Vail
In many ways, education is like a marathon. There’s a starting point, a destination and courses that become mile markers toward your goal. Marathons, however, are not always about speed. As with earning a degree, success is measured by commitment, a steady pace and crossing the finish line.
These are the stories of Kansas State University distance graduates who stopped at nothing to get their degree — and set a spark in others to do the same.
Dan Heeren, physical science ‘89
Dan Heeren is the example of hard work paying off.
When he entered the workforce, his goals were simple: work as hard as possible, enjoy what you do and advance within your company. But in 1986, he had gone as far as he could in his job in farm equipment manufacturing. His employer said he needed a bachelor’s degree to rise any further in the company.
“I had 90 hours at K-State. It bothered me for a long time that I never completely finished,” he said. “We had to work full time to support our family, and time off was very limited. It was difficult at times to split up to go to certain activities. Sometimes only one of us could make it, and that’s part of the sacrifice.”
Heeren felt some trepidation in returning to K-State after so many years, mainly in revisiting subjects he had studied years earlier and learning alongside students who were 20 years his junior. His dedication to finish what he started paid off.
“I left the company and got an opportunity to start in banking, and part of the reason was because I had a bachelor’s degree,” he said. “I ended up as president and CEO of a bank in Clay Center, Kansas. I have no doubt that my degree played a part in the journey that I’ve been on, and it expanded my horizons.”
When it came to his children, their generation was the first to proceed without question of finishing a postsecondary degree. Heeren encourages everyone to get an undergraduate or even a graduate degree. It can propel a career in an unexpected direction, but always onward and upward.
Beverly Schmutz, public administration ’87
Beverly Schmutz went back to school as a promise to her mother. Over the span of 29 years, she took classes on campus, during the evenings and over the summer to fulfill that promise — all while keeping her son at the center of everything she did.
“Every semester I would bring my son to at least one class I was taking,” she said. “When I was not able to have him with me, he would at least know where I was, and when I got home, we’d talk about the class I took and what I was doing.”
Schmutz’s love of learning came from her mother, who had to drop out of school at an early age but devoured the textbooks that Schmutz and her six siblings brought home from school. The family legacy of learning passed down to her son, who attended K-State himself after visiting his mother’s classes growing up.
Now a retired civil servant, a grandmother and a masterful storyteller, Schmutz is inspiring a new generation of students.
“Anything you want bad enough, if you work for it, you can have it,” she said. “I think where a lot of people fall down is when they don’t believe. You have to believe in your heart that you can do it.”
Once upon a time, I had not finished my school
I am a mom and worked at the Fort, but felt the fool
Several attempts to get a college degree
But I let living life interfere, oh don’t you see
Then one day putting fear of failure aside,
I headed to KSU, enrolled, and classes did abide
It was as though a new world opened up for me
Knowing with help the impossible no longer to be
Today I stand back and gaze at the times long ago
Wondering how to thank those who helped me so
I think the best way is to share what all they have done
How they encouraged, guided and directed until I won
Now my degree hangs proudly on my study wall
Sometimes I share the years I spent, and I stand tall
It wasn’t easy and days back then were hard, ‘tis true
But it is possible, and want you to know it’s open for you
— Beverly Schmutz ‘87
Jennifer Haake, family studies and human services ’15
Jennifer Haake crossed the commencement stage at K-State’s Bramlage Coliseum with an overwhelming sense of coming home. For 15 years, she worked toward her degree with courses from multiple institutions, but her passion was for K-State.
Haake graduated with the honor of being an outstanding senior through the K-State College of Human Ecology for academic achievement and contributions to family studies and human services. Initially a music major, her career goals shifted after a social worker helped her family through a difficult challenge.
“In 2009, my son was born with a cleft lip and cleft palate. It was scary that no one prepared us for that moment. We were lost about what happens from here and how we would begin treatment for our son,” she said. “The social worker on our case said he would need a craniofacial team and other services. Thanks to her help, I felt compelled to continue my journey through family studies and human services.”
For Haake, her husband and three children, financial hardship became an added challenge in finishing her degree, but she kept pushing forward. Balancing family and a full-time course load not only set an example to her children about what they could achieve, but also inspired her husband to return to school through K-State Global Campus. The couple met as traditional students on campus in Moore Hall.
“My life happened here. A lot of the really big moments in life that you normally might have after, I had here,” Haake said about K-State. “One of the things I would recommend to all students is to make this the one place you always want to come back, where you have such incredible memories that you want to bring your spouse and your children later and share it with them. It all comes rushing back. I have a very special place in my heart for K-State.”
SUPPORT THE STUDENTS
Help distance students on their journey toward a degree by donating to K-State Global Campus scholarships. Find more ways of supporting students in honor of the 50th anniversary at global.k-state.edu/50/future/give.