I Love the Perseverance of the Tortoise

As a child, I loved the story of the Hare and the Tortoise by Aesop. You think the tortoise has no chance to win, but you keep reading. When the tortoise won, I rejoiced because I don’t like proud people or hares. I liked how the tortoise just kept going forward, believing in himself, even if no one else did. That perseverance and determination to not allow how hopeless the situation looks to deter him is something I want, even in my old age.

I didn’t go to college until I was age 36. I had children to support, but being a college teacher had been my dream since I was nine. I watched as the people who graduated with me went to college, became doctors and professors, and had great jobs. But I never stopped hoping I would one day have a college degree.

When I finally went to college, it took me nine years to earn my Bachelor’s degree. I just kept plodding away, even as people who started with me completed their degrees and moved into the workplace. I was determined that no matter how long it took me to finish, I would stay the course, like the tortoise.

I graduated Magna cum laude and earned Presidential awards with my scholarship. After all, I was living what I was learning! So, the sociology department at the university offered me the opportunity to go to graduate school, with tuition paid and a stipend. I took early retirement from the telephone company, going from nearly $70,000 a year to $18,000 a year in income. But, I put my trust in God, who had never abandoned me, and over those years when I worked toward a Master’s and doctorate degrees, I never missed a meal. I finally earned my Ph.D. at age 54 but had been teaching introductory sociology classes for nearly six years.

I was told that I couldn’t find a teaching position at a prestigious university, as the faster and younger people would get those jobs. But like the tortoise, I kept believing in myself, and I was blessed to teach at a prestigious Jesuit university for six wonderful years and at other excellent schools, including where I teach today.

I came out of retirement in August 2023, because I still have the encouragement to offer students that motivates them to believe in themselves. I tell my nontraditional students my story to motivate them to just keep plodding away at the degree. Like the tortoise, just believe in yourself and keep moving forward. That’s why the tortoise is my favorite animal, a reptile that just moves slowly but steadily. That is how you win in this race called life.

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