Degree is a 'lifesaving' experience

COEUR d'ALENE - Loretta Galan told her story in shorthand on Facebook recently, when she posted: "U-Idaho Coeur d'Alene changed my life and saved my life."

Galan's story begins with and has been shaped by "a traumatic childhood." That, it turns out, is shorthand for growing up as one of the few white kids in her Compton, Calif., neighborhood, an experience defined by her minority status, the city's poverty and violence, and back at home, by abuse and neglect.

The trauma left Galan with scars that included agoraphobia, characterized by extreme fear and anxiety in crowds, public places and open areas.

As a young woman, she moved to Washington state to live near a favorite sister. Then a single, teenage parent, she fought for her own child to have the best start possible, enrolling her in the local Head Start program.

Head Start requires active parental involvement. Not a problem: Galan's commitment and skill allowed her to rise through the ranks of the organization, ultimately serving as policy council president of the Twin Harbors Home-Based Head Start program in Aberdeen, Wash.

When her daughter entered kindergarten, she enrolled at Grays Harbor Community College, earning an associate's degree in 1993. After graduation she applied to the University of Idaho, Moscow.

Still battling anxieties, she failed many of the courses she attempted. Looking for a new start, she was able to move with a friend's help to Coeur d'Alene. On and off prescription medications, Galan could not step outside her home without a companion for the next decade.

While tying to find work to do from home, Galan saw an Internet ad about earning a University of Idaho degree online. She reapplied, but worried because she did not have the $25 application fee. Fortunately, because of her status as a former student, the fee was waived.

Unfortunately, that first class was not offered online. If she were to begin her second try at higher education, she knew she would have to leave the house.

"That first step to attend a class was one of the most challenging steps I ever took," she said.

Academic counselors told Galan it would be best to approach her degree through the Fresh Start program. It offers students returning after a long absence a little bit of a do-over. Galan saw the opportunity as another small miracle: Through Fresh Start, she needed just 24 credits to reset her grade point average and earn a bachelor's degree in education.

On the Coeur d'Alene campus, Galan worked with Anne Smart, a now-retired College of Education faculty member and student adviser. As she moved through the program she worked closely with Warren Bakes, who places student teachers in North Idaho K-12 schools to complete their final course challenge - in-service teaching.

Galan cites many mentors and advocates in Coeur d'Alene and Moscow, including Lauren Bowersox, the former U-Idaho teacher certification officer who worked to waive financial aid restrictions due to Galan's probationary status; fellow education student Monica Hansen; education curriculum and instruction professors Emily Duval and Anne Kern; curriculum and instruction lecturer and community partnership coordinator Kris Allen; Professor and Chair of the Department of Curriculum and Instruction, Paul Gathercoal; and Richard Reardon, associate dean of the College of Letters, Arts and Social Sciences (CLASS) for North Idaho and professor of psychology and sociology on the Coeur d'Alene campus.

The admiration is mutual.

"She is an amazing lady," said Bakes. "First, she is an incredibly caring person. She truly loves kids. Even when they misbehave she cares about them and is willing to help them learn. And she has made incredible sacrifices in order to go to school. It was a financial challenge. Sometimes she would drop out of the program, and we'd call and encourage her to continue. And she just never quit."

"This group of people fought for me every step of the way," said Galan. "I'd hit a snag and somebody would fix it. I've never had that experience before - having a group of people who were just behind me every step of the way. And every time I didn't regress I just got stronger and stronger."

Galan earned a bachelor's of science in education and her Idaho teaching certificate last May, graduating with a 3.3 GPA. She did her in-service student teaching in a kindergarten classroom under mentor Donna Gorman in the Coeur d'Alene School District.

Galan had the options of spending another semester doing in-service teaching or earning a special endorsement in literacy. Her first semester was so successful, Bakes advised her to earn the endorsement because her teaching skills looked solid.

She recalls Bakes' vote of confidence as a memorable gift.

"Basically the instructors at U-Idaho Coeur d'Alene changed my life, one little positive comment at a time," said Galan. "They gave me back my dreams, and in doing so saved my life. Maybe it's because the Coeur d'Alene campus is small, and the classes are so intimate, that the instructors just know, intuitively, what their students need. As a teacher, I hope to develop that skill some day."

Donna Emert is with University of Idaho Communications.