When Arielle Pilot’s son considered his options for college, she encouraged him to enroll at Great Bay Community College. William Trisna listened to his mother’s advice, graduating from Great Bay
This fall, Pilot followed her own advice and in her son’s footsteps when she enrolled in the Accounting program at Great Bay. Four decades after first enrolling in college in her home country of Indonesia, she decided it was time to get her degree.
Completing her college education has been a longtime dream that Pilot, 59, put on hold many years ago. She finished two college semesters when she settled in California after arriving in the United States, but she had other priorities.
“I got married, had kids,” she said. “I had to sacrifice. I let my kids go to school first.”
She remembers the pride and joy she felt when her son enrolled at Great Bay. “I was so happy, just overwhelmed.”
As a student working toward the completion of her degree, she feels similar elation.
“I am very excited to go to school. It is a lot of homework, but I am determined. My goal is set–I am determined to get my degree, and it will take me a few years to do it,” she said. “At first, it scared me. I had been out of school for 40 years. It was not easy at the beginning. But so far, so good. I am going in the right direction.
Pilot is accustomed to working hard. Her husband is disabled, and she has juggled several jobs for many years, working as a tax preparer and in the hospitality industry. After years of sacrificing for others, she is thrilled to be able to focus on herself and pursue the college degree she put on hold for so long.
“I feel honored. I want to go to school,” she said. “This is my dream. Other people my age, they can achieve their dreams, too. It’s not a matter of age. It’s a matter of desire.”