St. Leonard woman returns to school after 30 years

Wednesday, July 2, 2008

Click here to enlarge this photo Staff photo by GRETCHEN PHILLIPS Anne Wilbanks of St. Leonard was out of school for 30 years, but has just earned her master’s degree. E-Mail This Article | Print This Story

Wilbanks, 58, of St. Leonard got her master’s of social work degree from Catholic University in May. Before returning to school, Wilbanks had not been a student for 30 years.

‘‘I was gung-ho,” she said about going back to school.

Wilbanks had worked in a research lab for several years in Washington, D.C., after receiving her bachelor’s degree from the University of Maryland in 1972. Later, she was a stay-at-home mother while she homeschooled her children before dabbling in social work in Calvert County. She said that all started when she worked for Catholic Charities.

‘‘I realized as I began working, that I liked it ... it felt like I found my niche,” she said of social work.

She said she also realized that she had a lot to learn if she wanted to continue with social work.

While some might think going back to school after such a long break could be difficult, Wilbanks saw it as an opportunity.

She recalled thinking of how old she would be when she graduated.

‘‘I’m going to be 59 anyway, how much better would it be to be 59 with a master’s,” she said.

Prior to going back to school, Wilbanks attended a convention at Catholic University while working with Catholic Charities. It was there that she decided to speak to someone at the university about the idea of possibly returning to school. After speaking with the dean of the social work department, Wilbanks was hooked on the idea of going back.

She said her family was in full support of the decision.

‘‘She is just incredible,” Wilbanks husband Bo Wilbanks said. Bo Wilbanks recalled stories from when his wife worked at Catholic Charities and when she volunteered at their local church. He said she would always put others first even if sometimes she had to put her neck on the line. With the support of her family and the desire to learn more about the work she has come to love, Wilbanks set off for the two year master’s degree program.

‘‘I had so much support here from home,” she said.

Wilbanks has four children; Jessica, 27, Obere, 25, Sam, 22 and Joshua, 14. Two of the four have moved away from home, but Wilbanks said she felt their support just the same.

Wilbanks had many classmates young enough to be her own children. However, she said she learned a lot from her classmates and she discovered that there were many older students attending college.

‘‘Being an older student, you just kind of take it in in a different way,” she said.

Like many students, no matter what the age, homework often became a nightmare. Always having the worry of a paper hanging over her head was the one thing Wilbanks said she did not miss at all once graduating.

Wilbanks said she read textbooks in the evening and focused on term papers on the weekends.

The commute to classes alone took several hours a day, and, on top of classes, Wilbanks, like many students these days, had to juggle many other things including the full time job of being a wife and mother.

Part of the master’s program included a full-time internship, which she completed at the National Institute of Health in Bethesda. The commute by bus was two and half hours one way.

In order to practice the type of clinical social work she strives to do, Wilbanks will need to complete many more hours of observations and face to face work with clients in therapy.

Wilbanks said she is glad to have gone back to school for her master’s degree even at an older age.

She said her family was there in the audience when she graduated. Wilbanks said she and another older graduate joked when someone announced to the graduates that their parents were proud of them today.

‘‘And our children, too,” Wilbanks recalled.

When it comes to finding what one loves and needing to go the extra step to get it — such as jumping back into the academic world — Wilbanks’ advice is simple.

‘‘Go for it,” she said.