Adult Learner Interview Essay

Interview with a Non-Traditional Adult Learner: An Interpretative Report
Introduction
Non-traditional students can be identified as students who may have "non-traditional" characteristics which may include being financially independent, or delayed enrollment into college (not entering right out of high school), or are returning to college after having "stepped-out" at least once, or are working full time or attending college part time, or have children, are married, widowed or divorced, or commute to campus, or are military veterans. At present this description could be almost all students enrolled in an institution of higher learning. Ryan Coon is one of these non-traditional adult learners. He is returning to higher education after a five year break in his education. Ryan Coon is my twenty-four year old son who has been
Ryan ended up working as a machinist, but the company soon went bankrupt. Once again he was unemployed and searching for employment. After many odd jobs and setbacks, at the age of twenty-one, Ryan became a father and lost his job because his daughter was hospitalized for a week. Eventually Ryan was employed with NAPA Auto where he became manager. About a year ago, Ryan and his daughter moved to Corpus Christi to start a new life closer to his family. NAPA said they would transfer his job to Corpus, but when he got to Corpus, once again he had no job. For the past year, Ryan worked odd jobs and even learned lawn maintenance with TruGreen where he was employed as the area manager. This job entailed long hours six days a week, and left no time for his daughter. Ryan decided he wanted to finish his education so he could get a decent paying job that would also allow for him to spend quality time with his daughter. Being a single father, Ryan decided he needed to be in his daughter’s life more and set a good example for her to