Back to School for Grown-ups

One-third of NMC students are 56+

By Ellen Miller | Oct. 5, 2024

When you imagine the demographics of a college campus, it’s likely 20-somethings that come to mind, young people who are studying (and maybe partying) and exploring paths for their future careers.

But at Northwestern Michigan College (NMC), rich opportunities await at any age, for folks interested in just taking a one-time course or workshop to students pursuing a degree later in life. At NMC, 33.8 percent of students are aged 56 and up, the majority of whom hail from Grand Traverse County.

What Now?

Doug Richardson, a retired firefighter, was perusing the NMC catalog at a friend’s house a few years ago when a brand-new program caught his eye. As a firefighter, Richardson had often cooked for the rest of the firehouse, and he had taken some culinary courses at NMC for fun. He reached out to learn more, and before he knew it, he’d signed up for a Culinary-Maritime certificate through the the Great Lakes Culinary Institute.

“I thought it sounded interesting. It’s culinary in an area I had never considered before. Everybody talks about going to work in a restaurant or catering, or opening a cafe—this was totally different,” he says. The certificate program offered unique learning opportunities, like a course Richardson took where the students would cook on aboard a ship.

“Every Tuesday and Thursday, we’d go out on the boat and go cook for anyone working on the boat. There were federal employees doing inventory, so we were cooking for 20 people. It gave us the opportunity to work together as a team, to figure out how to work in a small area, and how to fix our screw-ups. It was a good learning experience,” Richardson reflects.

Richardson also enjoyed the camaraderie that he and his classmates built, something he hadn’t experienced since leaving the fire department. He has completed one internship as part of his program and leaves shortly for his second. If all goes well, he hopes to be hired onto the ship’s crew.

“This career never even entered my mind,” Richardson says. “For me, when I was younger, the pinnacle of my career desires was to be a firefighter, and I did that. And then it was like, what now?”

Pivoting to New Passions

Ed Flees, Jr., who is pursuing an audio technology degree, started his career with a job at Radio Shack.

“In the years that passed, I tried different jobs, trying to figure out where I fit in in the world,” he says. Flees drove a truck for a while, before stopping in 2019 to pursue a culinary degree. The pandemic, combined with a cancer diagnosis that meant he couldn’t stand for long periods, changed his plans.

“I used to DJ and stuff like that, so I thought, why not pursue that as a degree?” he says. Flees notes that when he graduated from high school, there weren’t many options for paying for college. Now, students have access to programs like Michigan Reconnect, which covers community college tuition for students who do not have a college degree. The program, which was originally available to students ages 25+, recently expanded to serve students ages 21-24.

When he’s not busy studying (Flees is busy learning software and also will study piano and guitar), Flees volunteers as a DJ for NMC’s radio station.

“Taking classes is weird because 99 percent of students when I walk in think I’m a teacher,” he jokes. “It’s funny because kids are too shy to ask questions. Well, I’m not shy about anything anymore.”

Flees is on track to finish his degree in 2026. He hopes to get a job at a radio or TV station or a recording studio. “As you can tell, I love to talk,” he says with a laugh. “I’ve been told I have a great radio voice. When I go somewhere, people say, ‘I know you… I know your voice.”

Learning for the Fun of It

Beyond associate degrees and certificate programs, NMC offers a wide variety of courses through its extended education department. From Homeownership 101 to cooking courses, “date night” outings focused on dance or dining to international trips, there is something for everyone.

“We had a great deal of interest in learning about the community and meeting up with other people that were like minded,” says NMC aficionado Cathy, who initially started taking classes with her husband Joe. “We did a lot of Campus Days—those were fun.” (See more below about Campus Day!) They also took Jack Segal’s global issues courses together.

“After Joe died, I started taking classes I’ve always had an interest in, but didn’t know a lot about,” Cathy continues. “One great strength about NMC is that instructors are always well-versed in whatever the subject is.”

Cathy has since taken classes on art, wildflowers, the iPhone… “literally anything that captures my interest,” she says. “I’ve always collected rocks, and I took this course with Robb Houston. He happened to mention that he would be taking adults to Iceland the next year.”

Off Cathy went on a class to Iceland, studying geology. “It was absolutely phenomenal. We were with an Icelandic man who had taught geology to many students.”

Students might start off taking a class just for fun, but the learning stays with you. “I do bring things into my life that I’ve learned,” says Cathy. Many years ago she took a class on balance that inspired her to learn tai chi. She has practiced on and off for years since.

“That’s the point of these classes—you don’t have to know anything about it. My friend and I that had gone on the Iceland trip, we later went on a hike in the Commons. My friend hadn’t known anything about geology before the trip. She turned to me and said, ‘Oh is this…’ a specific type of rock. You really learn a lot. The instructors make it so easy for you to learn things because it’s so condensed.”

Campus Day to Return in 2025

NMC will welcome back Campus Day in May 2025. In past years, over 400 55+ adult learners attended. This will be the first iteration of Campus Day since the pandemic brought programming to a halt in 2020.

Campus Day offers students a way to sample multiple courses as well as connect with community programming like BATA. In 2025, it will be hosted on NMC’s main campus. NMC will hold between 30-45 classes across three tracks; participants will choose one class per track, so they can try three total. Registration will include the sample courses as well as lunch.

Campus Day classes will primarily be drawn from the extended education offerings and range from wellness to culinary to global studies. It’s a great opportunity to try out NMC’s offerings—and meet some new people. “There’s so many people who move here and need to reestablish a friend group, and Campus Day is a great place to start,” says Laura Matchett, NMC’s director of extended education and training.