<\/p>\n
Most kids have a lot of growing up to do when they graduate from high school. Breana Vachon had more to do than most.<\/p>\n
A late birthday combined with skipping the fourth grade had Vachon facing her first steps into adulthood at a mere 16 years old, and the Laurens, South Carolina native freely admits she wasn\u2019t ready to take them.<\/p>\n
\u201cI did well academically in high school, but I was also a lot younger than everyone,\u201d she says. \u201cI think that explains my\u00a0maturity level leaving high school\u00a0. . .\u00a0I had a full scholarship to Winthrop, and I just blew it. I didn\u2019t really know what I wanted to do. I just went because you\u2019re supposed to.\u201d<\/p>\n
So Vachon moved to Greenville and did the other thing you\u2019re supposed to do when you grow up: She got a job. That maturity also allowed her see what she couldn\u2019t in high school: A career path.<\/p>\n
\u201cJust having been out in the work force for a while you get a little bit of experience,\u201d she says. \u201cI was in sales, which I did not like, but the bookkeeping, accounts and ledgers,\u00a0I did like.\u201d<\/p>\n
To get anywhere, however, she needed a four-year degree. Professors at Greenville Tech alerted Vachon to Furman\u2019s Undergraduate Evening Studies (UES) program and the bachelor’s degree in accounting\u00a0it offered, but she doubted it was a realistic option until she had a\u00a0conversation with director Beth Crews.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt seems daunting after you failed in college after the first attempt\u00a0. . .\u00a0I was concerned about my grades from years before, but the difference is that now, I have a different attitude about it,\u201d Vachon says. \u201cThey made it simple and\u00a0really focused on me. I had a lot of questions before I decided to apply, so I met with Beth and she helped me work through those\u00a0questions. I put in my application that day.\u201d<\/p>\n
She still wasn\u2019t completely confident in her ability to succeed once classes started earlier this year, but that doubt, too, quickly evaporated.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was a little bit nervous going from Greenville Tech to Furman because of what expectations\u00a0may be from a place that\u00a0has such a great reputation, but it doesn\u2019t feel like you\u2019re at a snobby school . . . It still feels like a regular place,\u201d Vachon says. \u201cMany of my classmates\u00a0are in the same situation I’m\u00a0in, and the professors are understanding and will work with schedules.\u201d<\/p>\n
Vachon continues to work part time at a cost-estimating firm but it slated to be finished by the spring of 2017 thanks in part to UES\u2019s pilot program last summer, block scheduling and hybrid courses<\/a>, which allows students to graduate more quickly by completing courses in half the time and blending classroom sessions with online learning.<\/p>\n \u201cThey split the summer up into two six-week blocks, so it was a lot faster\u00a0and more intense,\u201d Vachon says. Crews expects that the programs piloted with be tweaked and made a permanent feature of evening studies classes.<\/p>\n Vachon did her part to make the process as speedy as possible by getting married in April the weekend before exams, and honeymooning between the spring and summer semesters. It\u2019s that kind of serious adult student Furman is after, Crews says.<\/p>\n \u201cInstructors at Greenville Tech identify students with great academic promise, and introduce them to Furman.\u00a0Breana is one of those who was referred to us,\u201d Crews says. \u201cShe didn\u2019t think she would have a chance to get to Furman . . Non-traditional students such as Breanna are much more career-focused, so the majors we offer are much more career-focused. They come to us to earn a liberal arts degree, from a top university, at an affordable price. For an Upstate resident, Furman will always be on your resume. It speaks here.\u201d<\/p>\n