Samantha Perrine

At Central Ohio Technical College (COTC), it’s never too late to get back in the classroom. The average age of degree- and certificate-seeking students is 27, and 46% of degree- and certificate-seeking students are 25 and older. Many of them come to us after several years in the workforce, as is the case with Samantha Perrine.

Perrine is pursuing her associate degree in business, as well as certificates in management and office administration. She’s worked in offices in some capacity for nearly 13 years, and the academic advisors at COTC knew she was coming to the classroom with a lot of experience.

Kathleen McNeil, academic advisor at COTC’s Knox campus, encouraged Perrine to create a portfolio for prior learning assessment, a policy that grants students college credit hours toward a degree for knowledge and skills obtained in the workforce, military and other educational experiences. Perrine ended up enrolling with 20 credit hours under her belt.

I didn’t realize how much of my professional work applied to the business degree.

Perrine considered COTC at the advice of her boss, but she said convenience was the true deciding factor in enrolling. “I work full time; I sometimes even work overtime. There’s a lot of chaos happening in my life but knowing that I could be online was amazing. I knew I could stick to it,” she explained.

Attending classes online hasn’t prevented Perrine from taking full advantage of the array of resources provided to COTC students, however. She lives just down the road from the Knox campus, where she meets with her success coach, goes to tutoring and visits for some study space away from home.

The Knox campus is pretty quiet. There’s a room you can go and kind of just chill if you need to. My house is always quiet, but if I felt like I needed to escape it. It’s good to have a place to go.

One of the COTC resources Perrine has found most impactful on her academic journey is Student Life Disability Services (SLDS). “This is the first time I’ve stepped foot in an academic setting in 15 years. I was a straight-A high school student, but with ADHD and dyslexia, I had to change the way that I learned,” she explained. “I had to learn to advocate for myself and use the resources the school had.”

Perrine had never been formally diagnosed with any learning disabilities, but SLDS helped her get referrals to receive formal diagnostic testing. SLDS has provided several accommodations since, including extended testing time, headphones and calculators for math exams. “Extended testing was huge,” Perrine enthused. “I would have to reread the questions over and over because my brain just doesn’t work the same as other people’s.”

The aid Perrine has received from SLDS extends beyond the classroom.

I learned through school how to advocate in my professional life. I’ve learned at work to say, ‘Just give me a moment to reframe this sentence.’ It’s been a game changer.

After completing her associate degree, Perrine plans to pursue a bachelor’s degree in business. “I intentionally picked this degree so that I could apply it to a bachelor’s business degree,” she explained. “I’m just eager to eat up knowledge. I’m just always wanting to learn more.”

Perrine advises fellow students to “give yourself time and grace, especially if you’re a middle-aged adult like me.” She continued, “I was scared at first, but it’s okay. You’re working in the world; you’re going to have to give yourself time and reach out and use resources — that’s what they’re there for.”

Outside of work and school, Perrine makes it a point to work in social time with friends and family. “I saw my friends who went back to school, and they just cut themselves out. I always make sure that, no matter what, I have at least a couple hours with family and friends.” She also loves taking care of plants and trying out new hobbies.