Non-traditional College Student Earns Masters to Help Children

By Julie M. Fidler
BATESVILLE -- After working 16 years at Arkansas Eastman in Batesville, Lance Hall wasn't sure what he wanted to do when his employer was bought by another company. Reductions in force got him thinking about his future and his family.

Hall currently serves as an occupational therapist for the Batesville School District.

Hall started in maintenance at Eastman and worked his way into operations.

A Batesville High School graduate, Hall dropped out of University of Arkansas in Fayetteville after starting his second semester.

“I thought, if I could get on at Eastman or Newark (power plant), with that money and everything, why go to school?” Hall said. “At that time, the money was the main thing. I ended up getting on at Eastman, so it worked out good.”

In 1995, Arkansas Eastman became Eastman Chemical, and Hall began to see several reductions in force. He said he wasn’t worried, but began to think about the future of his family.

He and his wife, Mandie, had a 2-year-old son, Boston (now 5) at the time. Hall felt he was missing milestones in Boston's life and, with shift work, he knew he wouldn't be able to participate in the boy’s future activities.

That’s when he began taking classes at University of Arkansas Community College at Batesville. “I was never worried about job security,” said Hall. “The last couple years I was there, I was doing shift work, switching from days to nights. I got to thinking about the future of my son, and I thought I was going to be missing things like ball-playing and everything. I thought it’d be a good time to find a different field.”

“I knew I wanted to go back to school,” said Hall. “I was looking at the allied health field. White River Health System was willing to hire me part-time as an emergency room technician. That opened my eyes to nursing and a whole host of other fields -- imaging, nuclear medicine …”

Hall immediately researched when and where classes were available with an eye toward getting into the School of Occupational Therapy at University of Central Arkansas at Conway.

“I laid out my options and thought, if I could get into school at Conway, I thought that’d be my best bet. I was taking classes here before I made that decision, lining up my science courses toward the medical field, working with a UACCB counselor. Everything slid into place, and I had enough hours to apply for OT school.”

The journey wasn’t easy. “As I struggled with a career change while out at Eastman, I continued to work 48 hours a week and take up to 19 hours per semester,” Hall said. “This was in addition to working part time at White River Medical Center three to four shifts a month. Many days were spent using my vacation hours from Eastman in class at UACCB only to return to work after class,” said Hall. “Then, I would have to find time to complete my homework after a 12-hour shift or during my days off.”

At times, going back to school as a “non-traditional student” was awkward.

“Being older and a non-traditional student, it’s different because you’re worried about going back as you’re older,” Hall said. “Wondering how instructors and students are going to look at you. It’s a little different outlook know you’re going to have to buckle down and study.”

The faculty and staff at UACCB made the transition easier, according to Hall. “I couldn’t ask for better instructors,” he said. “Everybody was helpful and understanding. Before I made that transition to the OT field, they helped guide and mold me in the direction they thought I might need to go. They threw all the options out there and let me decide.”

Hall said he was thankful for a non-traditional student scholarship that transferred over to UCA. “That helped out big time,” he said.

Now, Hall has a master’s degree in occupational therapy and looks forward to going to work every day.

Hall works with students from pre-kindergarten age through seniors in high school. “I’m working with the non-athletic side,” he said. “It’s basically the academic and functional side of it.”

He said he works with children who have very minor to extreme problems with fine motor skills or visual perception issues and some who have been diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy, Multiple Sclerosis and Down’s Syndrome.

“I like that because kids are kids,” Hall said. “They’re honest, and they tell you what they’re thinking. I’m trying to get each of them back to their activities of daily living. For kids, daily living is playing. For us it’s work.”

Hall has been working for Batesville Schools since the beginning of the 2010-11 school year.

“I get to go to work and basically play with Legos, puzzles and Play-Doh. It’s a joy to see a kid reach a milestone. It’s like when a parent would see a kid walk or crawl. I get to see a kid develop.”

“Even since this fall, I’ve seen kids make tremendous strides,” said Hall. “To see that light bulb go off is just a feather in the cap. It just makes your day.”