Persistence: It's More Than Half the Battle

Late last month, I read a news story that almost made me cry. A mom in Iowa had just graduated from college after taking nearly 20 years to accomplish this. Kathy Vitzthum was working as a receptionist when she was told by her boss that she'd get a promotion if  she took some accounting courses in college. Kathy took one or two courses at a time, all the while being a mom to her little kids and working full time. She often felt frustrated at the long path she had set out on. "I don't want to be 50 years old when I graduate," she told her dad. "You'll be 50 anyway," he replied.

The photo that appeared in the paper accompanying that story shows a beaming 48-year-old mom wearing a cap and gown, holding a college diploma, standing in front of a beautiful carved wooden cabinet. Her dad had given her the cabinet "on loan until you graduate," he said. Why "on loan"? Kathy's dad developed cancer during the long 19 years Kathy was making her way toward her college degree and knew he wouldn't be there to see her walk across the stage to accept her diploma. Now every time Kathy sees that cabinet, she sees her dad's support and belief in her.

I shared this story via email with my own daughter, Sarah, since we each have similar stories. I was in my late thirties when I decided to go back to college and try to become a lawyer. Like Kathy, I had two little kids and was frustrated with the grinding work every single day of studying, attending classes, taking tests, and making peanut-butter sandwiches and reading bedtime stories. I remember standing in the parking lot of Santa Clara School of Law late at night kvetching with my fellow older students about how hard this all was. We didn't want to be still going to college when we were 45. And we all said the same thing that Kathy's dad did—that we're going to be 45 anyway, so why not be 45 and an attorney? When Sarah was frustrated at taking more than four years to graduate from college, I used that line on her a lot. "Mom, I don't want to be 25 and still going to college." Of course, I replied: "You're going to be 25 anyway. Don't you want to be 25 and a college graduate?"

Here's to Kathy, Sarah and all of us who set long-term goals for ourselves and keep going, even when it's hard and we want to stop. I know I'll visualize Kathy's cabinet when I'm feeling discouraged. How about you?