It’s Official
Monday, December 18, 2006
Concha Dikin’s parents were migrant workers who never finished elementary school. But their hard-working example made it possible for her to get her master’s degree from Emporia State University on Saturday.
“They knew education was important,” Dikin said while waiting for the graduation ceremony to start at White Auditorium. “They just told us ‘Go and do the best you can, whether it’s working or going to school.’”
Something must have clicked. Four of the six children in the family, including Dikin, have since graduated college.
Dikin was one of about 250 students who crossed the stage to get a diploma Saturday. That’s a little less than half of the graduating class. The graduation was the first for new ESU President Michael Lane.
For Dikin, it was a long road to get here. She graduated from high school in 1981 and afterward got married, had children and entered the working world. For 10 years, she worked at an elementary school as a teacher’s aide and a paraprofessional. In addition to the paycheck, she got a lot of encouragement.
“My principal and some of the teachers there thought I should go on,” she said. “So I tried it. They gave me that extra oomph to go on.”
It took four years to get her bachelor’s degree, another four to get her master’s in counselor education. It meant juggling a lot of responsibilities, particularly toward her husband and three sons.
“You try not to stress, but it is very stressful,” Dikin said. “I guess you prioritize and keep things in perspective. Sometimes I’d have to choose. Sometimes it was staying home instead of going to a wrestling tournament or a track event.”
As it happened, the days’ keynote speaker would emphasize many of the same lessons Dikin had learned herself. Be ready for change, urged Herbert Achleitner, this year’s Roe R. Cross Distinguished Professor. Never give up. Take chances.
“As the race car driver Mario Andretti said, ‘If you’re in control, you’re not going fast enough,’” Achleitner told the graduates. “Control was the signpost of the industrial age. It is not appropriate for the information and content age. So step on it!”
Dikin’s oldest son at 19 is now a college freshman himself. And Dikin is in a job that suits her talents perfectly working with Upward Bound, a program that encourages and assists first-generation college students.
“I love it,” she said. “I’ve always wanted to help others. It makes me feel good.”