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MILLIGAN COLLEGE, Tenn. (Dec. 19, 2011)—Like his fellow graduates at Milligan College, Richard Shell wore the traditional cap and gown to Milligan’s commencement ceremony on Friday, Dec. 16.
However, Richard was wearing two hats that evening―he was in attendance as a graduate and also as the husband of a graduate. His wife Chandrea Shell, Milligan’s director of public relations, received her Master of Business Administration at Friday’s commencement ceremony.
“It felt good to complete my degree,” said Richard, an information technology specialist at Watauga Medical Center in Boone, N.C. “But it felt even better to share the celebration with my wife, who understands like no one else can what it was like to balance classes, a full-time job, our family and the everyday busyness of life. We went through it together and just happened to finish our different programs at the same time.”
When Richard began Milligan’s adult degree completion program, he also had no idea he would make Milligan history as thefirst graduate to the complete the college’s first online major. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree with a double major in business administration and computer information systems-mobile (CIS-M). The CIS-M major is offered completely online, so Richard was able to take the courses in the CIS-M major from his home in Roan Mountain, Tenn.
“The online aspect was a big draw for me as I decided to go back to college and finish my degree,” Richard said. “After I graduated from high school, I completed all of the prerequisites for pharmacy school and worked in a hospital pharmacy for 10 years. But eventually, I felt God was calling me in a different direction.”
With a propensity for computer technology and experience as a pharmacy tech, Richard was the “go-to” person for technological issues in the pharmacy and was asked to transition to the computer department at the hospital. That role suited him well, and he settled into a career in the computer field. Work and family kept him busy, but returning to college to complete his degree was always on his mind.
“Even with a combined 20 years of experience as a pharmacy tech and in the computer industry, in today’s environment having a degree is an asset, particularly in the current economy,” said Richard, who is currently helping to build a new clinical system at Watauga Medical Center. “What I’ve learned at Milligan, I have already used in my role as backup system administrator for the new clinical system we are implementing.”
The online format of the CIS-M major was particularly appealing to Richard, who commutes from Roan Mountain to Boone every day for work. Adding additional trips to Milligan’s campus for classes would have lessened Richard’s time with his family, which includes the Shells’ 12-year-old son, Dalton.
Richard was already enrolled in Milligan’s adult degree completion program when Chandrea decided to pursue her MBA. While some couples might think twice before going back to school at the same time, the challenge did not deter the Shells.
“When I told Richard I wanted to pursue an MBA, he said, ‘We’ll make it work,’” Chandrea said. “And we did.”
Milligan’s MBA is a hybrid program, which means most of the coursework is completed online. Chandrea attended class on Milligan’s campus one Saturday a month throughout the 14-month program; the rest of her assignments, tests and classwork were online.
“We both went through some very busy times at work while we were in school, and we took care of family members with health issues,” Chandrea said. “But once we were committed, we did not give up. Our professors encouraged us, and we encouraged each other.”
Differences in their studying habits also helped the couple. Chandrea studied best during the day, so Richard often took on family responsibilities on weekends to free up her time. Richard used the evenings to catch up on his studies. But inevitably, their school lives overlapped.
“There were many times Richard was on one end of the couch with his laptop and I was on the other end with my laptop, and we were both studying,” Chandrea said. “We might have been doing homework, but at least we were home. We could stop and have dinner together and just be in the same room as a family.”
Together, the Shells made it work. And together they celebrated commencement with their son, Dalton, and about 20 of their family members who came to support them. For Milligan, Dec. 16 was the day the first CIS-M major graduated. For Dalton, it was the day he watched both of his parents earn the degrees they worked so hard to accomplish.
For more information about Milligan’s graduate and adult professional studies programs, visit www.milligan.edu/gps.