Back to the Books : Oxnard College Eases Way for Older Students Returning to School

In most ways, Joy Brose is just like many other freshmen starting college this fall.

During an orientation Friday at Oxnard College, she worried about grades, courses she will take when classes start next week and what she will do when she finishes college.

At the age of 52, however, Brose is confronting issues that younger students don’t face.

“It’s kind of scary coming back at my age,” Brose said. “I don’t know what’s available for me.”

Questions from Brose--and about 20 other students whose college careers have been delayed for a variety of reasons--were answered during the annual Discovery Day at the college’s Re-entry Center.

The center encourages people to return to school after long absences and offers help to returning students with problems such as a lack of money.

“People who come back to school sometimes feel that their minds have atrophied and they don’t have the ability to learn,” said center Director Priscilla Partridge de Garcia. “They look at younger people coming in around them and feel out of place. The center was put together to retain them by helping them set goals and attain self-esteem and by teaching study skills and life skills.”

De Garcia said the center helps people of all backgrounds from all over Ventura County.

Among the students at Friday’s Discovery Day were Tamika Marsden, a 21-year-old mother of two; Paul Davidson, a 49-year-old hospital boiler-room supervisor, and Amber Wilson, 19, an eighth-grade dropout who just finished a four-month drug rehabilitation program.

“I have about a million questions,” Wilson told counselors, holding aloft a thick sheaf of financial aid forms she had to fill out. Wilson said she dropped out of school when she was 13 because of drug problems. She now works at a restaurant.

“I don’t want to be a waitress for the rest of my life,” Wilson said.

Counselors were able to help Wilson immediately, sending her to an office where workers helped her complete the forms. Wilson was told she would receive her money in about three weeks.

Marsden, who came with 3-month-old son Xavier, attended West Los Angeles College until about a year ago. Then her husband, who is in the Navy, was transferred to the Point Mugu naval base and the family moved to Oxnard.

“I find myself at a crossroads,” Marsden said. “Being married and having kids, I’m in a different situation from most kids my age.”

Counselor Sherrie Smith told Marsden and other parents that when they need a quiet place to study they may bring their children to the center, which occupies part of the college’s student activities building.

Davidson said counselors at the center are helping him get his “head right for going back to school.”

“I know I’ll finish this time,” said Davidson, who has been attending classes at Oxnard College sporadically for more than 15 years. “I’m older and wiser and I’m really determined to stick to it.”

During the orientation, representatives from departments throughout the college told students about the wide range of services the college offers, including tutoring, emergency book loans, food for mothers with young children.

“It’s a day for people who are not feeling comfortable with the idea of going back to school,” counselor Brenda Cregor said. Cregor started in the program and eventually transferred to Cal State Northridge, where she received her degree in June.

Gin Martinez, 40, a Ventura homemaker who last attended Fresno City College about 15 years ago, said she was a little apprehensive but was eager to get back to the books.

“It’s wonderful,” Martinez said of the center. “I’ve found my spot. This place is on my scale. It’s real comfortable for me.”