After more than three decades of teaching students, multiple generations of families have walked the halls at Ozarks Technical Community College and earned degrees. But, parents and their children rarely graduate simultaneously.
Three members of the Thomas family, Kelli, Wayne, and daughter Lauryn, will all receive their associate degrees this Thursday, May 18, at OTC’s graduation ceremony at Great Southern Bank Arena at Missouri State University.
“We never planned to all finish together. It just happened that way,” Kelli Thomas said.
The Thomas’s oldest daughter, Lauryn, took a year off after graduating from Glendale High School in 2018. She enrolled at OTC in 2019 to use her state A+ scholarship.
When Lauryn started college, Kelli decided to join her daughter. She quit her 25-year career as an optician and jumped into the higher education pool with both feet.
“I always pictured myself going to college and getting a degree,” Kelli said. “But Wayne and I got married and had children young. Now, they’re all older, and nothing was stopping me.”
OTC was Kelli’s first college, but her husband Wayne attended Evangel College in the early nineties. He spent several years at Evangel but left without a degree. Wayne and Kelli met while working at Walmart.
Watching his daughter and wife excel in college, Wayne started taking classes in the summer of 2022.
“Kelli gave me a little nudge, and I went and spoke to an advisor,” Wayne said. “With all of the credits I earned at Evangel, I was able to finish in just a year.”
It has been a busy year for Wayne. He works at Macy’s, fulfilling online orders with Tuesdays and Thursdays off. Those are the days he attends college.
Wayne will transfer to Missouri State in the fall. He plans to study economics and political science and eventually work as a community organizer. Without meaning to, Wayne realizes he may have become an inspiration to other adult students who have been out of the classroom for decades.
“If this 50-year-old can get his degree, so can you. Jump in. Continue on your path, and you’ll get your degree,” Wayne said.
Kelli will earn an associate of social work. She’s also headed to MSU and plans to become a counselor.
“I always thought I wanted to work in healthcare as a nurse, but life took me in a little different direction,” Kelli said.
Lauryn will graduate with her associate degree in criminal justice. She wasn’t sure what to think when she learned her parents were going to college with her.
“It’s a little strange going into your Spanish class, and your mom is sitting right behind you or asking your dad about the homework assignment,” Lauryn said. “But it was really nice. I always had a built-in partner for group projects.”
Lauryn took a year off between high school and college and conceded that time off initially made college a little more challenging. She knows the decades her parents were away from education made it extremely hard to return.
“They’ve become role models for other middle-aged people thinking about returning to school,” Lauryn said. “I’m proud of them and what they’ve accomplished.”
A couple of Kelli’s instructors approached her about trying out to become the graduation speaker because her family’s story is so unique. While the thought of being the graduation speaker was enticing, she respectfully declined.
“I was a tutor in the speech center, so public speaking was not an issue. I seriously considered it,” Kelli said. “But I decided to spend the whole ceremony with my family. We aren’t just graduating. We are all graduating together.”
The Thomas family is not done with OTC. Kelli and Wayne’s son Derrick and younger daughter Jordyn will both start at OTC in the fall.
Photo caption (L-R): Mother Kelli, daughter Jordyn, father Wayne, and daughter Lauryn Thomas at OTC’s 2023 Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society induction ceremony.