When the nearly 150 Crowder College graduates walked the stage Saturday college president Dr. Alan Marble congratulated them on their willpower.
For more than a few students, it was a team effort to join the long blue line.
Nursing students Michele Tyler and Dan Sherwood sat beside each other during their graduation ceremony. They have been married just a little more than three years. The retired Air Force veterans were looking for another career when they found Crowder College and the nursing school there. The Seligman, Mo., residents both served 22 ½ years in the Air Force. When they retired they wanted a job with a purpose.
“I wanted to be able to help people,” Michele said.
She had always been interested in the medical field. Dan, however, started out by checking out the education field.
“She started looking at nursing about the time I was disenfranchised with teaching,” he said.
He decided to take up nursing also and the pair started at Crowder.
“It was great having a study partner at home,” Michele said.
They plan to take jobs in the Rogers / Bentonville area and are pleased to be part of a field where they can be useful instead of just punching the clock.
Calib and Julie VanDorn also graduated together with 2 ½-year-old Emma and baby Cale in the stands to cheer them on.
Julie, a nursing graduate, said she has always been interested in caring for people. Calib, a physical education graduate, dreams of one day coaching wrestling or golf. Although he admits there is quite a gap, he likes both.
Julie began attending Crowder in high school, but he went back to school to create a career.
“I like health and kids,” Calib said of his choice.
He plans to finish his degree at MSSU.
The pair has been going together since sixth grade and their Crowder choice was for their family and their children’s future.
“That’s why we went to school,” Julie said. “For them.”
