Weather | Sports | Forums | Comics | Classifieds | Calendar | Movies
Decades after leaving school, two women return to the classroom after life-altering experiences.
By RYAN DAVIS
© St. Petersburg Times, published February 7, 2001
Tamara Di Si, a cheerleader, was voted "best all around" of the Fort Lauderdale High School class of 1977.
Nancy McGrotty was a 1964 member of the Rhode Island Honor Society at John F. Deering High School in West Warwick.
There was a time that classmates thought they would hold leadership positions at college.
The unforeseen twist is that it took until now.
"I don't want to say I'm proud of myself," Di Si said, "because I think it was always in me."
Di Si dropped out of the University of South Florida at age 18 before finishing one semester. Guy problems, she said.
At 42, she is now the president of Pasco-Hernando Community College's west campus honor society.
McGrotty dropped out of high school at age 16 after her father died. She worked several jobs, including one at a pen factory, to make money for her family.
At 52, she is now the student government association president. The two student leaders came back to the classroom, where they had experienced so many successes previously, after life-altering changes.
Di Si separated from her husband.
McGrotty's husband died.
They sought self-sufficiency.
Because they didn't come directly from high school, PHCC terms them "non-traditional students."
"That means 'a.k.a. old,' " Di Si said.
The average student age at PHCC is about 261/2.
"Non-traditional students tend to add some flavor to the institution," said Dean of Student Services Alfonsa James. "They are very academically oriented, and they bring experience."
Di Si and McGrotty met at Phi Theta Kappa honor society induction in October 1999 and have bonded with a common philosophy about school.
"If you're going to do it, you might as well have fun doing it," McGrotty said.
During the first half-semester of class, McGrotty never raised her hand.
"I was like a mute," she said. "At that point I didn't want to draw attention to myself. I just wanted to sit there and shrink."
She's not sure when she found her confidence and niche as a student leader; but a classmate, then the president of SGA, talked her into running for secretary of the organization in 1999. After a year as secretary, she was elected president.
As president, her student government meetings have drawn overflow crowds. Her secret: she attends other groups' events and asks them to do the same for her. If that means sitting in the stands at a volleyball game waving a PHCC pennant, she's there.
McGrotty, who also is vice president of the honor society and has a 3.7 grade point average, wouldn't be here if her husband hadn't died. On Jan. 17, 1995, James McGrotty, who had severe diabetes, died from complications stemming from a broken ankle. She worked at a telephone answering service and vowed to return to school when her mortgage was paid.
She kept her promise to herself, received a partial scholarship from the Veterans Administration because her husband was a veteran and took a work-study job in the school's admissions office. In May she will receive a two-year degree in legal assisting.
She likes PHCC so much, she wants a job there. "Any time I accomplish something," she said, "I amaze myself."
Returning to school wasn't easy for Tamara Di Si.
It's also been hard for her 14-year-old daughter, Loralie.
Mother and daughter attend the same school.
"It's okay," Loralie said. "I really wouldn't want to be in the same class as her, though."
Loralie, a sophomore at Grace Christian School, takes classes at PHCC as part of the college's dual-enrollment program, which allows high school students to earn a two-year college degree.
"I'm sure in her own way she's proud of me," Tamara Di Si said, "but I embarrass her."
Di Si's 22 years away from school ended when she hit bottom: separation from her husband, dead-end jobs and clinical depression.
"The worst feeling I had," she said, "I wanted to crawl out of my own skin."
Her father and school pulled her out of her tumble. He pays for her school while she works part time in a Publix deli in Hudson.
She hadn't touched a computer in 12 years. She started with adult education classes, then enrolled for her two-year degree in computer programming.
Her 3.9 grade point average landed her in the Phi Theta Kappa honor society, and she was elected president. She graduates in December.
The only event that would thrill her more than graduating, she said, would be inducting her daughter into the honor society. Di Si said: "I'd like for her to have the same experiences I've had."