| Vickie Dansbury's long road to obtaining her undergraduate degree is reflective of the African American experience in the upper Midwest. It is a journey fraught with barriers and unforeseen difficulties. It is a story of a village coming together to support the education of one of its members. Most importantly, it is a story of overcoming all odds to obtain one's dream. Dansbury's people originally came up from Mississippi during World War II. Her grandfather was recruited to work in a factory as many of the men living in Beloit at the time enlisted in the U.S. military. "There was a factory in Beloit at that time called Fairbanks & Morris," Dansbury said during an interview with The Capital City Hues. "They did engines. The company built houses for the people. And after he had been there for a year, he sent for my grandmother and my mother and all of her siblings were born in Beloit. Later on, my father came up. Then he and my mother met. After she graduated from high school, they married." Dansbury's mother went no further in her education. Her father never finished the sixth grade. Yet, education was important to them. Reading was a staple of every day life in their household while Dansbury was growing up. "My brother, sister, and I were always reading," Dansbury recalled. "My mom always told us 'You can be this or you can be that. Study, study, study.' It also points to the validity of her statements. 'Yes, you can.' She volunteered at the Beloit Literacy Council." Obtaining that undergraduate degree proved difficult for Dansbury and her siblings. All three of them had started college, but no one was able to stick with it to obtain their degree. "I graduated from Beloit Memorial High School," Dansbury said. "Then I enrolled at Wisconsin State University in Oshkosh in 1968. The infamous student demonstrations were going on at the time. I returned home and moved to Milwaukee and enrolled at UW-Milwaukee, but I never finished. My mom became ill and then I had financial difficulties. So I just withdrew although I really wanted to attend college and earn that undergraduate degree. I took a course here and there. I enrolled at Marquette. Then my husband and I relocated to New Jersey. His father was ill. When his father passed away, we moved back to Wisconsin." The year was 2001 and Dansbury enrolled at Mt. Scenario College, a correspondence course college based in Ladysmith. Everything was going fine for a semester and a-half until Dansbury got some disturbing news: the school went out of business. "I remember calling my advisor to ask about a class I wanted to enroll in," Dansbury recalled. "She said 'Vickie, you know we are closing, don't you?' I went back to my desk here at Gateway and just started crying. What was so great was that the staff came in and took the phone from me and just started talking. Someone asked 'You're crying because this is a shock and not because you think it is the end. I said it wasn't the end." Dansbury's husband, Robert, wasn't going to let this be the end for Dansbury. He found a weekend undergraduate degree program at UW-Green Bay. "I enrolled and started attending classes in January 2003," Dansbury said. "I went to three-hour classes on Saturdays. My first class was at 9 a.m. and the second one started at 1p.m. I would leave Madison around noon and spend the night in Green Bay. I would go to the classes on Saturday, spend the night, and drive to Beloit on Sunday morning. On Monday, we would drive to Madison." This rugged routine, plus all of the studying required between classes became too much for Dansbury. Something had to give. She reduced down to a 60 percent position at the Mental Health Center of Dane County's Gateway Project and continued her studies. Dansbury had to squeeze in her studies any which way she could. No amount of time was too short to use for a study period. People ask 'When do you study?', Dansbury said. 'I study from 1 a.m. until it's time to go to work. My husband would get up at his normal time and make lunches and prepare breakfast. You spend your weekends tethered to the computer. If we were going on a long trip, I would study in the car. Everyone would have to stay quiet. Sometimes at lunch, you'd be trying to read a sentence or a paragraph or try to rewrite something on a half-hour lunch. It's a lot but you know it's going to be worth it in the end." Reflecting back on all of the years, Dansbury realizes that she could have never done it alone. The people who were closest to her had to make the severest sacrifice for their relationships with Dansbury were placed on hold. "My mother asked what was going on," Dansbury said. "I'd reply that I was really trying to do this. She would tell me okay." The support that Dansbury experienced during her extended educational career began with Dansbury herself. "I had to sacrifice first before anyone else would help or sacrifice for me," Dansbury emphasized. "How many times have people said -- and I have done this in the past -- 'Oh, I'm going to go to school and I'm going to do it. It's almost like saying 'Quitting smoking isn't difficult' I've done that a thousand times. When others see you are truly dedicated to it that encourages them to say 'If she is real about this, what can I do to help.'" There were others pulling for Dansbury. "I had so many people encouraging me," Dansbury said. "My church, Providence Missionary Baptist Church in Beloit, was very helpful to me. People would tell me 'We're praying for you to make it. Don't stop. Don't stop.'" Probably one of the biggest boosts that Dansbury received was when she was awarded the Betty Franklin-Hammonds Scholarship for adults returning to school from the Urban League of Greater Madison back in 2002 when she was enrolled at Mt. Scenario College. While the money helped her pay for her tuition that summer, it meant a whole lot more to Dansbury. "The scholarship said 'We don't know much about you, but we read what you said and we believe you,'" Dansbury recalled with tears in her eyes. "'We believe you can do this and we want to show you that we believe you. Take this and pay your tuition.' Since then, I have received around $2,000 in scholarships." On December 16, Dansbury will graduate from UW-Green Bay with a 3.36 cumulative GPA. But she won't be marching to receive her diploma -- not yet anyway. She realizes that her diploma is about more than her. She is the first to graduate from a university in her family. "I asked the Provost that even though I graduate in December that he understand and allow me to march in May because my mom is on a walker and my dad has some cardio issues," Dansbury said. "I know there are excellent groundskeepers in Green Bay. But I didn't want to put that pressure riding up in the cold on my parents. I am very excited about marching in May because they will be able to see me graduate. I'm just happy." Dansbury feels the long road was worth it because it broadened her perspective. "I think it helped to round off those edges and it does give you that additional education and perspective that you don't receive in high school," Dansbury said. "It's not that education makes the person because my mother didn't graduate from college, but I really admire her." Dansbury is taking a semester off and then plans to study for her Master's degree in the Marriage and Family Therapy program at Edgewood College. Dansbury now stands ready to help others in the same manner she has been helped by others. "Once you obtain your degree, you can say 'Come on brother, come on sister, I will work with you so you can get this too because it is for all of us,'" Dansbury said with pride. "I had the help, so I have to help others." Dansbury has become a part of the village. |
| Vickie Dansbury obtains undergraduate degree at age 57 It's never too late By Jonathan Gramling |
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| (R) Vickie with husband Robert Dansbury |
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