When Michelle Voelkers started working in the registrar's office at SAU in October 1999, her son Josh was almost 2 years old. Michelle found out that through her employee benefits, she could pursue an undergraduate degree with no tuition cost, and knew she had to take a leap.
"I am a first-generation college student," Michelle said, so when she was graduating high school they were all overwhelmed by the idea of loans and the cost of college.
Fast forward to January 2000 when Michelle started working towards her bachelor's degree. She began with general education courses, taking one class each semester so she could balance work, family, and schoolwork.
"I was in my late 20s, in a classroom surrounded by freshmen," Michelle said.
When she started, Michelle was not sure what bachelor's degree she wanted to pursue. Eventually, she began thinking about a general business major.
"My husband asked me if that sounded exciting and interesting to me, and I said no," Michelle said. "He pushed me to find a major that really interested me, and that ended up being criminal justice."
Michelle knew that a career as a law enforcement officer was not in her future, but there were plenty of things she could take from her coursework and use in her role at SAU. Her current role as coordinator of the access security system on campus was recently moved under the security office, tying into her major.
"I really enjoy what I do at Ambrose," she said.
After 16 years of work, Michelle graduated with her Bachelor's degree in criminal justice in May 2016. She was not the only person in her family celebrating a graduation. Her son, Joshua, graduated high school that same month.
"We had a joint graduation party," Michelle said.
They rented a space for the party, and displayed both of their graduation gowns.
"It allowed me to not feel so guilty about throwing a party for myself," Michelle joked.
After earning her bachelor's degree, Michelle thought about continuing her education with a master's degree.
"Friends and colleagues encouraged me to do it," she said.
Michelle thought about a master's degree in criminal justice, but decided on the Master of Organizational Leadership program.
"I talked to people who were working towards their MOL, and a general leadership degree sounded good," she said.
After taking a break during the fall term, Michelle started her MOL classes in January 2017. And she was not the only Voelkers on campus; Josh was now attending SAU. Like his mother, he also decided to major in Criminal Justice.
"I have always wanted to pursue law enforcement," Josh said. "It was nice having someone that had been through the program before. We could compare notes and talk about my classes."
As he worked his way through the CJ program, Michelle was already taking what she learned from her MOL classes and applying them to her job.
"I could immediately see how classroom topics transfer to the work world," she said. "Being in the graduate-level classes, it was also a change to have people my age who understood the same challenges in our different work places."
On May 9, both Michelle and Josh graduated from SAU. Michelle was excited they would walk across the same stage in their cap and gowns, but due to COVID-19, the graduation ceremony had to be postponed. Instead, the Voelkers had a family get-together celebrating their degrees.
"We are going to socially distance and have a family bonfire," Michelle said. "Once we are free to travel, we are going to have a dinner party out at a restaurant."
Joshua thinks it's going to be different for his mom to not be working on homework assignments anymore.
"Mom's always been working on homework," he said. "She's always been in school as long as I remember."
This fall, Joshua will continue his education at SAU. He is part of the BA-MSCJ 4+1 program, where students start working towards their graduate degree while completing their undergraduate classes. He will graduate in May 2021 with a Master of Science in Criminal Justice.
"I'm going to have a big graduation party that's just for me," Joshua said.
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