cc
cc
cc
Never too old to learn - Palestine man receives Master of Science degree at 62
By CHERIL VERNON
The Palestine Herald
PALESTINE — It’s never too late to go back to school.
Terry Wayne Lindsey of Palestine received his Master of Science degree in Criminal Justice Leadership and Management from Sam Houston State University in Huntsville on Aug. 8.
At 62, he was the oldest person out of more than 1,100 students who received their degrees that day.
“During graduation, they were talking about demographics saying the age range was from 19 to 62, talking about the different countries and states besides Texas the students graduating were from,” Lindsey said. “I realized when they said ‘62’ they were talking about me.”
But Lindsey doesn’t consider himself “old” — far from it, in fact. It was just the right time in his life to do something he wanted to do.
“I don’t really feel different (than other students) and I don’t really feel old,” Lindsey said. “I’m just me.”
Lindsey works as an operational review sergeant at the Texas Department of Criminal Justice’s Coffield Unit, where he has been employed for the past 15 years.
“I got to thinking that as I get older I may not be able to physically work in a prison,” Lindsey said. “But I could teach criminal justice.”
Lindsey said he procrastinated for a couple of years until he saw his sister-in-law go through a similar program to receive her degree.
“I decided if she could do it, I could do it,” Lindsey said.
Lindsey is a 1966 graduate of Palestine High School and received an associate’s degree from Henderson County Junior College in 1968. After serving in the U.S. Army for two years, Lindsey returned to college graduating in 1981 from the University of Texas at Tyler with a bachelor’s degree in business management. He was the first person in his family to get a college degree.
“After college I worked for a lot of different places — the oilfield and in business for myself for a while,” Lindsey said. “Then I went to TDCJ and I’m still there. It’s been a good job for me. I’ve put two kids through college while I was there.”
In fact, TDCJ awarded Lindsey with a scholarship for part of his tuition. But Lindsey said he would not have been able to commit to the two-year, weekends-only special master’s degree program at Sam Houston without the help of his boss, TDCJ Coffield Unit Warden Ray Thompson.
“He guaranteed I’d be off on the weekends that I needed to go to class,” Lindsey said. “I absolutely could not have done this weekend program without his help.”
Lindsey’s class originally started with 19 students in August 2007. Only seven graduated.
“Hurricane Ike made it a tough deal for a couple of the students who had to drop out. One was a police officer in Galveston and another was a police officer in Houston,” Lindsey said. “After the hurricane, they couldn’t recover their work schedule to do the program.”
The special master’s degree program met every third weekend with one class all day Saturday and one class all day Sunday. There were no breaks between semesters.
“In the last two semesters they took pity on us and we met once a month,” Lindsey said.
Being master-degree level classes, the courses were intense.
“I had eight books and we only met five times a semester per class so you had a lot to learn on your own,” Lindsey said. “When you came to class you had to be ready at 8 a.m. to take a test each time.”
Most people in his class were 20 years his junior and he was the only one who was a correctional officer. The rest were law enforcement.
“I was from Palestine, there were three from Bryan-College Station, one from Houston and one from San Antonio that graduated,” Lindsey said. “We were a cohesive group that became wonderful friends because we’ve spent the last two years together.
Lindsey said he studied about two to three hours a day in addition to working full-time at the prison. But the last two years haven’t been easy. He’s missed grandchildren’s birthday parties, hunting trips and vacations with his wife.
But it all will be worth it in the long run, Lindsey said. Because school is about to start, Lindsey said he plans to look for teaching jobs that will open up in January when a new semester begins.
Now that “school is out” for Lindsey, it’s time to play catch up with his family and the things he enjoys doing.
“I’m sure my wife and boss are both glad it’s over,” Lindsey said. “I couldn’t have done it without both of their support.”
His wife, Fran Eilenberger Lindsey, is owner of Oasis Travel and plans to take her husband on a cruise in the near future — something he hasn’t been able to do for a while because of his studies.
“Now that I can rest some, I want to enjoy time with my family, go to see my grandchildren and do a little fishing, hunting and traveling,” Lindsey said.
Lindsey also looks forward to reading a book for enjoyment instead of for studying.
“Going back to school was worth it. I am a big proponent of education,” Lindsey said. “I like to encourage others to go back to school. It’s never to late.”
Lindsey is the son of Ruth Lindsey and the late TJ Lindsey of Palestine. He and his wife have a son, Arlen Lindsey of Arlington and daughter, Anna Lindsey Sheehan of Houston; and four grandchildren, Van and Bella Lindsey and Sam and Ben Sheehan. All of his family members attended his graduation ceremony.
cc
cc
