Driven to graduate

[Times photo: Dan McDuffie] Dianna Dickson’s link to her classes at St. Petersburg College is her laptop computer, which lets her do her homework, take tests and keep in touch with her instructors while she and her husband, Norman, travel America’s highways.

By DAVE SCHEIBER, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published May 9, 2002

As one trucker guides big rigs down the interstate, she's also traveling the information superhighway to a college degree.

Like many local students, Dianna Dickson has to do a little commuting for her college degree.

But nobody can match her on mileage: Oh, about 6,500 a month and 235,000 a year, give or take an interstate.

Dickson travels two long and winding roads in life: as a professional truck driver hauling loads across North America with her new husband and as a cyberstudent at St. Petersburg College, rolling through classes on the information superhighway from the cab of the couple's 18-wheeler.

Her days are filled with keeping up with log books and logging on with school books.

Not to worry -- the SPC freshman is not typing instant messages on her Compaq Presario laptop while she's at the wheel. But when her husband, Norman Dickson, is driving, or they've pulled into some distant truck stop in Oregon or Idaho, Dickson hooks up to the Internet via a Sierra wireless Air Card, does her Spanish and math homework, takes tests and corresponds with teachers.

With the click of a send button, her work is instantly transmitted to SPC's e-campus headquarters in Seminole, where Dickson is one of nearly 8,000 students enrolled in the school's electronic education program. "But she's our first truck driver," says cyberadvisor Jason Krupp.

It's one more road sign of the times, as colleges compete to keep up with the changing needs of their diverse student bodies. Some are working full-time jobs, some raising kids at home as single parents -- and one is shifting gears in life at age 34.

[Dickson family photo] Norman Dickson and the family dog, Ya-teh, a Navajo phrase that means “This is good,” are Dianna’s companions on and off the road.

Being a trucker is pressure enough. Being a big-rig college kid can truly test your nerves. Take Dickson's first major test after enrolling in school in January. She and her husband were in the midst of a deadline run from Florida to California, with no time for anything except fuel and rest stops. "We're pretty self-sufficient on the truck -- we have a little fridge, a small grill, pots and pans, so we can eat without stopping if we have to," she says.

But now, there was a new problem: Dickson's Internet connection is reliable only in and around metropolitan areas, so she needed to take her Spanish exam with Oklahoma City approaching fast -- or risk losing her connection and missing her test, due that day. On top of that, it was nighttime and raining.

"So I said to Norman, 'Okay, as you're going through Oklahoma City, just kind of drive 10 miles an hour slower than you normally would,' " she says. "He did, and I was able to stretch my test time just enough to finish. And I ended up getting an A on that test."

If all goes well, by summer's end Dickson will have completed 19 of 60 credits toward her associate of arts degree in life sciences and be on her way to her dream of becoming a veterinarian. Of course, none of this would have happened had she not met Norman Dickson less than two years ago.

At the time, she was on an entirely different route in life. She was Dianna Kersey, a single mother from Bradenton who moved with her young son to Texas in the mid-'90s. She had been married to a military man right out of high school, but the union soured early on, so she set out to build a new life and career in retail. She ran a Wal-Mart photo lab, became assistant manager at a Sam's Club and then managed an Old Navy store. Meanwhile, her son, David, began to excel in acting and landed roles in an array of regional commercials.

Eventually, mother and son moved to Los Angeles, where he got more commercials and even some spots in independent films and a small role in an upcoming Paulie Shore movie. But in 2000, they decided to move back to the Tampa Bay area, so David could enroll in Blake High School in Tampa, a magnet school for the performing arts, and Dianna could ponder her career options.

Her mother, Virginia Smith of Pasco County, had an idea. She had just earned her trucker's license and become a team driver with her husband. Maybe her daughter could give trucking a try, too.

"I said, 'Golly, Mom, I don't know if I can do that; that's pretty unconventional,' " she says.

But then again, it sounded adventurous. So both Diana and her younger sister, Deborah, signed up for a four-week training course with about 20 men. Deborah finished first in the class, Dianna second, and they soon landed driving jobs. Dianna was hired by Willis Shaw Express of Elm Springs, Ark., and prepared for a 45-day traveling internship with an instructor.

"I told my coordinator, 'You're going to put me on the road with a man I don't know for 45 days, so you have to find me the perfect man -- he's got to be funny, patient and work with me,' " she says.

The coordinator chose Norman Dickson, the company's top driver, with more than 30 years' experience. The new recruit was sent to Amarillo, Texas, to hook up with the old pro.

"I was nervous, but he was super sweet," she recalls. "It was love at first sight for both of us."

Norman, 62, also was smitten with Dianna. Long divorced, he had made driving his life, logging more than 3-million accident- and incident-free miles and becoming Willis Shaw's top trainer. After two weeks together in close quarters, Dianna says, they shared their first kiss. Then, 35 days into the internship, she had just completed a treacherous drive down a rain-soaked mountain pass in Oregon.

"We get to the bottom, and we parked at a restaurant," she says. That's when Norman popped the question. She accepted on the spot. On their drive back East, they made plans to start team driving in a new truck.

They married last September in Las Vegas, joined by their new pet Siberian husky, Ya-teh (a Navajo phrase meaning "This is good"). And they've rarely been apart since -- Norman (trucking handle: Stormin' Norman) on the road for 360 days in the last year, Dianna (handle: Norman's Angel) for 330. "It's been amazing; we're seeing the country together, and we don't have to wait until we're retired to do it," she says.

Early on, Norman encouraged Dianna to think about her future, since he might be hanging it up in several years. So she did some investigating and learned about SPC's electronic campus. She enrolled for the winter-spring semester and has been making As and Bs. When she graduates, she plans to leave trucking and enter veterinary school, possibly in Ohio near her husband's family.

Norman has been on the road the past month, while Dianna has spent time with her 15-year-old son, who lives with her older sister in Plant City. But this week, she's heading to Ohio to hook up with Norman on Mother's Day -- ready for the next truckload to take down the line and the next course load to take online.

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