Degree culminates efforts over the course of 13 years

Graduating from college is an incredible feat for anyone. Throw in a 40-hour-a-week job, children, a home and a plethora of other adult responsibilities and the challenge seems impossible.

So for Frances Logan, one of a number of WSU classified staff graduating this spring, walking across the stage will represent not just earning her degree, but earning it in the face of adversity.

Logan, a human development major and program aid at the WSU Children’s Center, received an associate degree from Santa Rosa Junior College in 1991 and immediately dove into the workforce.

For 10 years she worked at a growing daycare, moving through the ranks from teacher to assistant director and finally center director. Her duties as a mother and her more-than-40-hours-per-week schedule consumed any time she could otherwise spend on achieving a higher degree.

“The daycare just exploded and it was hard to get away,” Logan said.

Logan was married in 2000, had her second child the following year, then relocated to Pullman to be closer to family. The move sparked her interest in attaining her degree.

“I didn’t feel right about living in a college town and not having a college education,” Logan said.

Her WSU journey began.

Logan enrolled in the Distance Degree Program, taking six credits to test her capabilities after being absent from college studies for 10 years.

Due to her extensive background with children and her desire to provide positive relationships with children that were lacking in her youth, Logan opted to study human development.

“I have always been fascinated with children,” Logan said. “The rewards of working with children are more gratifying — far more than finances.”

During her second year of study, Logan took 12 credits per semester, was hired at the Children’s Center and went through a divorce — all complicating her schedule even further.

Despite the apparent stress, Logan used the opportunity to model balance and the importance of education and involvement for her children. She brought them to cultural events on campus and to intramural athletics events in which she participated.

“Too often school becomes a separate part of life for people,” Logan said. “I try to find the balance and include my kids. I want to make it a positive experience for the whole family.”

Finding balance and remaining positive also meant not always being perfect. Logan quickly realized that acing a class was not essential, that life was more than textbooks and that functioning on six hours of rest is possible.

“You really don’t need as much sleep as you think,” Logan said.

In her final year of school, Logan has taken 13 credits per semester through the Distance Degree Program and learned how to juggle everything despite the pressures of her advanced classes.

Though she enjoyed her educational path at WSU, Logan is looking forward to walking across the graduation stage and receiving the degree that took, altogether, 13 years to earn.

“After 10 years of nothing, I went back and did it,” Logan said. “I am so proud of sticking with it — just taking those small steps and doing it.”