/news-archive/tag/jessie-wright/ 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock Thu, 21 Jun 2018 16:12:17 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 /news-archive/2018/06/21/tandie-kenser/ Thu, 21 Jun 2018 16:12:17 +0000 /news/?p=70840 ... “Never too late” for a college education]]> When Tandie Kenser was diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer seven years ago, doctors gave her a couple of years to live. She knew she was on borrowed time, and she had only one regret: never going to college. So in 2015, at age 48, she enrolled at 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock, intent on earning a Bachelor of Business Administration. She told her advisor that she wanted to take 18 credit hours. Shannon Gwinn, director of Student and Career Services, advised her to start with nine credit hours, to ease into the college workload. 鈥淪he pointed her finger at me, and said, ‘Not only am I going to take 18 hours, I鈥檓 going to make a 4.0,鈥欌�� Gwinn recalled. 鈥淎nd she has. She had a good career in the credit union world, but she had never taken time to go to college, and that was on her bucket list.鈥� Tandie, an ambassador for the College of Business, has completed 90 of the 120 credit hours she needs for a bachelor鈥檚 degree, all while maintaining a 4.0 GPA. She鈥檚 enrolled in two online classes this summer – History of Civilization II and Financial Markets – that she will finish as time allows. 鈥淭here鈥檚 so many people who think they are too old or it鈥檚 too late, but it鈥檚 not,鈥� she said. On June 14, though, she entered home hospice, and her prognosis is now 鈥渨eeks but not months.鈥� Instead of a funeral, she told her family that she wants a party to celebrate life. Her family quickly stepped in to make it happen. 鈥淭here鈥檚 no more opportunity for her to get better,鈥� said her mother, Gennie Adair of Vancouver, Canada, who is staying with her. 鈥淚t鈥檚 sad, but this is the very best way for her to be able to participate in her own party, and it will be good.鈥� The celebration, which included a mock graduation, was held June 30 at the Friendship home of Tandie鈥檚 daughter, Jessie Wright. Tandie also has a daughter, Kaitlin Tate of Fort Worth; a stepdaughter, Kim Kenser of Little Rock; and a stepson, Will Kenser of Gulf Shores, Alabama. She has seven grandchildren and one on the way. Tandie visited faculty and staff in the College of Business, and Dean Jane Wayland gave her a graduation cap and gown that Tandie wore at her party.聽 Adair has set up a $25,000 endowment that will provide scholarships for future non-traditional students in the College of Business. Contributions are also accepted online. Tandie, now 51, lives in Benton with her husband, David, who is a veterans services coordinator for Arkansas Hospice. They married on May 1, 2011, the day after Tandie finished her end-of-the-tax-season accounting rush. Just a few weeks later – on July 20 – she was diagnosed with cancer. She has tried chemotherapy and radiation, but her particular cancer involves the presence of a mutated KRAS gene, which means her tumors do not respond to many therapies. She has also sought alternative therapies, including hyperbaric oxygen therapy and had numerous surgeries to remove tumors. In 2014, her cancer metastasized to her lung, necessitating more surgery. Adair recalled a time when her daughter had undergone eight hours of chemotherapy and insisted that she be taken directly to 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock afterward so that she could attend an extra-credit lecture about earthquakes. 鈥淪he was so determined to keep that 4.0,鈥� Adair said. 鈥淚f it wasn鈥檛 for her going to the university, I don鈥檛 know that she would be here. I think it prolonged her life. She had something she was working toward and getting to her goal.鈥� Tandie, who describes herself as a 鈥淭ype A鈥� personality, has a sense of her cognitive decline and limitations but also has found peace. She sold her motorcycle. She鈥檚 put reading aside. She鈥檚 spending time with family and friends. As for pursuing a college education, she has no regrets. 鈥淚 didn鈥檛 want to be anywhere else,鈥� Tandie said. 鈥淚 love walking on campus. I like every professor I鈥檝e had. It鈥檚 brought me joy. 鈥淟ife is not fair,鈥� she says matter-of-factly. 鈥淔air is just a four-letter word at our house. I鈥檓 not a sad person, though I leak a little now and then. I never thought I was getting out of this alive, so I鈥檓 redirecting. I鈥檝e been able to give things away and see people enjoy them. I have a lot of love from my family and support from my school, and I know that I鈥檝e been very blessed. I don鈥檛 have one thing that I wanted to do that I haven鈥檛 done.鈥� Tandie Kenser (seated) and her mother, Gennie Adair (center) visit Cindy Wallace (left) and Shannon Gwinn (right) in the 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock College of Business.聽 Photos by Benjamin Krain  ]]>