This past weekend, 693 students received diplomas from University of Alaska Southeast campuses. Sunday was the Juneau campus’s 44th commencement ceremony. Graduation is often a time for celebration, and it should be because getting through college can be hard. There are exams to ace, late night study sessions and pressure over what comes next.
Rebecca Salsman guides a class of pre-teen students through a ballet routine at Tafy dance studio in Lemon Creek. She just arrived here from her other job, working as a daycare teacher. And if that wasn’t enough, she’s also a graduating senior.
“I think the most difficult thing has been trying to figure out how to balance it. Like, I’ve had days where I would go to class, I was taking 21 credits at a time a semester and so I would be in class every evening or every morning. And then I would go and work my full-time job. Then go to a class for another few hours. Then go teach one dance class here or there,” Salsman says.
Even the little things, like grabbing lunch or finding time for friends has been a challenge.
“Or when am I going to get my half hour of ‘me’ time in the day? You take them for granted before you get into college,” she says.
A self-described “ambitious home school kid,” Salsman started taking classes at UAS when she was just 14. She’s now 24 and receiving a degree in English with an emphasis in creative writing.
“I always knew I was kind of good at it like throughout school and stuff and high school. It was never my niche until I figured out how much fun it could be college,” she says.
This past year, she spent a lot of time editing the UAS literary journal, Tidal Echoes.
“And I would do that, odds and ends, when the kids were napping. On my lunch breaks when I had to. At midnight if I had to just to get things done,” she says.
Throughout her time in school, when things got really hectic, she’s had moments of I just can’t do this anymore.
“Oh yeah, I’ve hit those points a couple of times in my college career,” she says.
For the first three years, Salsman paid for her tuition with scholarships.
“Then the fat hit the fan and I had to start paying for ‘em. I was considered too old and had been there too long to keep receiving as many scholarships. That was a challenge of having to hit the reality of paying student loans and working and trying to figure out how to manage life,” she says.
She got through it and now she’s graduating from UAS. Being a senior, she says you get a lot of unsolicited advice.
“Go back to school and get a masters degree. Become a teacher because that’s the only thing you can do with an English degree.”
But for now, she says she doesn’t mind where she’s at.
“I’m totally okay with continuing to work 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. ‘til I pay off my student loans and then go back to school for masters,” she says.
Salsman says she’ll use her English degree in other areas of her life, like telling stories through movement and dance.
Editor’s note: This story has been corrected to acknowledge several UAS graduation ceremonies across different campuses. An earlier version overstated Juneau diploma figures by incorporating all UAS campuses.
