It\u2019s not easy being a 40-year-old first-year student, especially while raising four children and holding down a job.<\/p>\n
But Lynita Reid took the plunge and enrolled at UConn Stamford three years ago. She was nervous but found that going back to college gave her a profound sense of confidence as well as new friends and great career prospects.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt had been 20 years since I had taken any classes and I just wondered if my brain would function the way it used to,\u201d she says. \u201cBut I knew I could do hard things. I mean, I was raising four kids without any family nearby.\u201d<\/p>\n
Along with her own tenacity and her husband\u2019s support, Reid says a scholarship helped make her dream of returning to college possible.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs a mom of four with a mortgage, any help I get is huge because it helps reduce my student loans,\u201d she says. \u201cIt was super exciting to receive the Telep Family Scholarship. I was not expecting to get it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Reid\u2019s college education initially began after high school. She studied sports medicine at a junior college in Southern California, where she grew up. She had intended to transfer to a four-year school, but her plans were interrupted when she decided to become a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Venezuela.<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter that, I got married and decided to start my family,\u201d she explains.<\/p>\n
She and her husband, Ryan, eventually settled in Norwalk, where they have raised their children, who now range in age from 10 to 18. Reid took a position as a receptionist and office manager at a doctor\u2019s office.<\/p>\n
In the back of her mind, she always wanted to finish her degree. Her husband kept encouraging her to apply and helped her with the college application.<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought \u2018OK, if I get in, I\u2019ll go.\u2019 I was shocked that I got in but very pleased,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
She says she\u2019s met relatively few older students on the Stamford campus but has adjusted well and made some new friends.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s fun because I get to learn from this younger generation now and they get to learn from me as well. It\u2019s just different perspectives,\u201d she says. \u201cThe professors love that because it brings up different points of view when you\u2019re having class discussions.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s good for me because I can keep up with what\u2019s going on now and what these 20-somethings are facing right now in our society and how life is so much different than when I was their age,\u201d she adds. \u201cIt\u2019s refreshing and broadens your mind.\u201d<\/p>\n
She\u2019s majoring in marketing, as is her daughter, Kaitlyn, who is a sophomore on the same campus. It\u2019s been hard work, but Reid is proud to report that she is carrying a 3.8 GPA and plans to graduate in December. After that, she is considering working in the marketing side of the advertising industry. She encourages anyone considering returning to college to take the plunge.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou don\u2019t have to be 18 and just out of high school to go to college,\u201d she says. \u201cIt\u2019s never too late to go back. You never know what you\u2019re capable of until you try.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
‘It\u2019s never too late to go back. You never know what you\u2019re capable of until you try’<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":133,"featured_media":189672,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_crdt_document":"","wds_primary_category":0,"wds_primary_series":0,"wds_primary_attribution":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[147,2192,156,1862,2235,174,2227,2234],"tags":[],"magazine-issues":[],"coauthors":[2162],"class_list":["post-189668","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alumni","category-fairfield-county","category-profile","category-busn","category-today-homepage","category-uconn-stamford","category-uconn-edu-homepage","category-university-life"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"publish","acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-11 06:24:54","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/189668","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/users\/133"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=189668"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/189668\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":189682,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/189668\/revisions\/189682"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media\/189672"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=189668"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=189668"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=189668"},{"taxonomy":"magazine-issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/magazine-issues?post=189668"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=189668"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}