Lisa Arvidsonās sons are learning what it means to never give up: She is showing them. The busy mother of two graduated from UNH this past December, two-and-a-half decades after she took her first undergraduate class at the University of Maine.
Arvidsonās parents didnāt want her to take on debt to attend the out-of-state college of her choice, so at their behest, the Eliot, Maine, resident reluctantly enrolled in UMaineās premed program following high school.
āEarly on that first year I became very rebellious and very angry,ā says Arvidson, who maintained good grades through high school and was hoping to become a doctor. āAt the end of my first semester, I was put on academic probation. I wasnāt an idiot; I was just in a bad mood. I didnāt go to my classes most of the time.ā
At the end of her first year, the university notified her that her grades did not meet their standards for enrollment. Expelled from school at 19, Arvidson was determined to prove to her parents that if she couldnāt go to college where she wanted, she didnāt need to go to college at all.
She held a number of odd jobs before moving to Miami Beach, Florida, where she waited tables and tended bar on the iconic and fashionable Ocean Drive.
āI made great money as a bartender, but you see everything under the sun. A lot of craziness,ā she recalls. āThe party life wore me down very quickly. It was at that point that growing up in New England and the values of tradition, hard work and education comes back to you. I realized I wanted to go back home and go back to school.ā
In 1999, Arvidson moved to Portsmouth, met the man who would become her husband and a year later began taking continuing education classes at UNH. Given her less-than-stellar record at UMaine, UNH admissions requested that she have two or three semesters of consistent good work in the continuing education program under her belt before applying as a transfer student.
But 2001 brought another event that diverted Arvidson from her degree: pregnancy and severe morning sickness, followed by the exhaustion and rigors of new motherhood. Then, when her first son was 2, she became pregnant again. This time, it wasnāt motherhood itself that was her only challenge. By the time her second child was a year old, she knew there was something wrong.
āAll he did was scream, he was behind developmentally ā verbal communication, everything,ā Arvidson says. āI started bringing him to doctors, but they kept saying he was fine.ā
Eventually, he was diagnosed with pervasive developmental disorderĢżā not otherwise specified. He needed aggressive speech, physical, occupational and sensory therapy.
For Arvidson, returning to school became less and less a possibility when weighed against these new demands. āWe were at doctorsā offices Monday through Friday,ā she says. āHe became my full-time job.ā
Her commitment to caring for her younger son paid off, and by the time he was 8 heād made so much progress he no longer needed the myriad supplemental therapies and was a happy and thriving second-grader.
Arvidson began to seriously consider returning to college, despite now running a small, successful photography business. āIt was always hovering, and I hated knowing it was unfinished,ā she says.
In 2014, she returned to UNH as a continuing education student.
āI took Bio 411 first semester because I wanted to make sure I could handle it and get back into the routine. I had to learn how to structure my time because I was a mom, I was a wife, we owned a home,ā she says, āand I was still doing photography a little on the side. So learning to manage my time was the hard part. It was very, very hard.ā
She also had to get over the fact that she was clearly the oldest person in the class.
āI couldnāt try to hide or blend in,ā she says. āItās pretty obvious that Iām older than traditional-age students. But there is one thing about being older: Iām not afraid to ask questions. Look, if I donāt know, I need to know. Still, when youāre in a freshman-level course, itās definitely a humbling experience.ā
In spring 2016, she applied to be an undergrad and officially enrolled as a full-time student in the program that fall. It was a big moment.
Now with her newly minted bachelorās degree, Arvidson is starting a full-time research assistant position at Cell Signaling Technology in Danvers, Massachusetts. She plans to pursue a masterās degree in biotechnology next year ā perhaps at UNH. But sheās also taking the time to appreciate what sheās accomplished so far.
ĢżāHaving the boys watch their mother go through this ā Iāve been a student with them,ā she says. āThe rules that apply to them were the same that have applied to me: School first. You have to work hard, and you have to give it your best. Education is a gift. Iām really grateful Iāve been able to do this.ā
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Written By:
Sarah Schaier | College of Life Sciences and Agriculture