USU celebrates Non-Traditional Student Week
By: Shanie Howard
From Nov. 2 to Nov. 6 Utah State University celebrated non-traditional student week for the first time ever.
Several students were asked by the non-traditional student department on the first day of the event to anonymously write down what they thought non-traditional students are and the answers they got back were vast in variety.
One student wrote, “A student who is not familiar with traditions/customs of the school. This includes things like going to events and such.”
Another student wrote “Pregnant women or from a different ethnicity.”
While the second guess was not entirely inaccurate, there is more to the correct answer.
“Our department defines a non-traditional student as a student who has had a three to five year gap in their education and/or is 23 to 25 years or older and/or has other obligations than just their education such as family, a spouse, working full time, etc.” said Michelle Bogdan-Holt, the non-traditional program coordinator and non-traditional student association club advisor.
With this kind of broad difference in definitions, the non-traditional student department set out to not only raise awareness about who non-traditional students are but also about how many non-traditional students there are,
According to the department’s data, the total number of non-traditional students at USU is 949.
“I fear that a lot of our non-traditional students feel kind of invisible and I wanted to make sure they know how valued they are,” Holt said.
With activities such as writing thank-you letters, a meet-and-greet, bringing in therapy dogs, a “Study Smarter, Not Harder” workshop and a lunch with the Non-traditional Student Association, students were not only able to learn more about the department, but also become better and less stressed students themselves.
“I love that they had this event. I miss my dog so much so it’s nice to get to see this one,” said Kelsey Petersen, a psychology major, at the therapy dog event.
And like the therapy dog, Holt believes that non-traditional students help their younger peers both in and outside of the classroom.
“Non-traditional students bring experience to the classroom because a lot of them have already been in the work force,” Holt said. “They also remind us of the changing demographic of college education.”
— shaniehoward214@gmail.com