Amid raising six children and working hard to support them, Lorraine Foster decided she would dedicate herself to earning her degree and following her dreams.
Even if it took the next 24 years of her life.
CELEBRATING SUCCESS: UToledo recognizes the Class of 2024 with a series of stories featuring students receiving their degrees at spring commencement.
“My greatest success at UToledo is being able to graduate,” said Foster, who will receive her bachelor of arts degree in English literature on Saturday, May 4. “It took me a long time to get to this point, and I can finally say that I did it.”
Foster returned to school at the age of 38. She said what most inspired her to pursue her education was her sister, who was suffering from breast cancer at the time and later died.
“I was so stricken with grief, I felt like maybe if I pursue my dream I’ll forget about the pain,” Foster said. “Once I got back in school, the dream came alive again.”
Between being a single mother, working part time, dealing with financial issues and a plethora of social stigma, Foster said she did not have time to pursue her degree linearly.
“I had to be a mom” Foster said. “My kids are overachievers – I had to be the sport mom, theater mom, ballet mom, art mom, coffee mom, an advocate for my children. I had to be everything for everybody.
“It was a lot. I was dealing with a lot of financial issues, but I couldn’t work full time while taking care of my kids. I made them work hard for scholarships so they could go to college. I told my kids, ‘We are not going to let our circumstances determine our success in life.’”
Foster powered through these obstacles and leaned on several of her professors for understanding and support, including Dr. Christina Fitzgerald, a professor and associate chair of the Department of English Language and Literature.
“Lorraine is the model of perseverance,” Fitzgerald said. “It’s not easy coming back to school later in life when you’re out of the habit of being a student or thinking like one. And then in my classes (medieval literature, Shakespeare), Lorraine faced strange and distant material that a modern person can’t immediately relate to but must work through first even to understand it. But she remained determined. Now here she is about to earn her degree – she should be tremendously proud of herself.”
While raising and supporting her six children, Lorraine Foster decided she would earn her degree and follow her dreams. On May 4, 24 years after she began that quest, she will graduate UToledo with a bachelor’s degree in English.
Now, at the age of 62, she can proudly walk the commencement stage.
“I had people ask me, ‘Why are you going back to school at your age? What are you going to do with a degree?’” Foster said.
She replied that she wants to tackle issues bigger than herself.
“I’ve always been interested in the civil rights movement. Growing up in the ’60s, my mom was really focused on the movement. Since I was young, I knew I wanted to do something with that.
“I’m interested in studies of African American women and the social issues they struggle with. A lot of minorities go through many different stages in their life, and it’s important to me that I can help them because that is my heart. That is my desire; to work with women of color and support them.”
After graduating, Foster has plans to study African American literature. She also wants to write journals and books, including an autobiography.
Her dream is to be in a role where she can support all those who face the adversities she did.
“My journey was a lot as a single woman,” Foster said. “Living in this society, people have all kinds of opinions on single women and single households which aren’t true. They focus on the ones who aren’t as successful and have no education, when there’s so many strong women out there proving them wrong.
“I have a voice for women. I want to encourage them, motivate them and use my experience to help them.”
