Like father, like son

Two men sit in the foyer of the HUB, peering intently at a laptop screen. One has a head of golden-brown hair, the other's is silver. After some furious typing, the younger man looks up victoriously at the elder and pumps his fist through the air.

"Dad, I got the class I wanted," the younger said.

Meet Jeff and Thane Garfield. Father and son are both enrolled as students at the UW, pursuing degrees through the general studies program. They are also advised by the same academic counselor, David Sayrs. Better yet, both will graduate in December, Jeff at 60 and Thane at 28.

Although they have much in common, the father and son duo from Edmonds, Wash., have their differences as well.

Jeff's degree is in business and art while Thane, the eldest of Jeff's three sons, is graduating with a degree in architecture and history.

Thane described himself being more spatially and visually inclined.

"I do not have an artistic bone in my body," Jeff said.

Both look forward to seeing each other on campus; they have only taken one quarter at the same time.

"We took the summer quarter of 2005 together, and we did meet up for lunch every once in a while," Jeff said.

"When we walked together, people would usually think I was walking with a professor," Thane said, with a laugh.

"It was fun to have someone to talk to about things here at UW. What a scantron is, for example. Other people wouldn't have a clue," Jeff said.

They thought of sharing a class for winter quarter of 2005, but they decided that it might not be the best situation.

"I wouldn't want to fight with you for the highest grade," Thane told his father with a grin.

Besides experiences shared together, they share a similar story in their course of education here at the UW.

Jeff's story

Graduating from Franklin High School in 1964, Jeff came to study here at the UW for about two quarters.

"I didn't take my education very seriously -- it was checkered to say the best," he said.

He was drafted during the Vietnam War after his second quarter at the UW, and served in Korea on a three-year stint with the Army. After attending community and city colleges, he returned to school here for the summer quarter of 1970, where he decided to become a business major.

"Ironically, at the end of fall 1970, I received two letters from UW. One telling me I was on probation, the other congratulating me for my 4.0 average," he said.

It was also at the end of fall 1970, on New Year's Eve, in particular, that he received a business proposition. Out of the UW and into the business world, he worked at Bedrooms & More and Office @ Home for 35 years, where he still works today.

For years, the UW was merely a fragment of his past until Jeff decided to finish what he had started and complete his degree.

"My wife and my middle son had both graduated, and I wanted to set a good example for my other two sons. But, in the end, I have to say that I did it for myself," he said. "It was also a sort of competition, and I didn't want to be the last one to finish my degree."

But the road back to UW proved to be filled with all kinds of obstacles.

"I asked someone at the Business School if I could return to finish my degree, but I was told that my credits had all expired since I left in 1970. I explained that I had been running a business all this while, and the person said, 'Well, that might work at other schools, but it doesn't make it here,'" said Jeff.

Discouraged, he sought out an academic advisor and came into contact with academic counselor, David Sayrs.

"Sayrs asked me what I planned to do with my degree, and I told him I would frame it and put it up on my wall," Jeff said, "Sayrs then suggested that I go into general studies instead, and put together a degree from the classes I have already taken."

There were also social hesitations that accompanied a return to the UW in winter 2004.

"I was worried about coming back to college, that the students might not accept me and the teachers might be intimidated since I was entering at age 58," he said.

But, he said, none of these things came to pass and he built excellent friendships with both students and teachers.

"UW is a great place, and it takes coming back to school to realize how exciting it is to be here," he said.

Thane's story

"When I started, I wanted my major to be the non-college part of college life," said Thane, "I took a few architecture classes, but I never had enough focus to stay with it."

A graduate from Lakeside High School, Thane began his education at the UW in the fall quarter of 1996. He was undecided about what he wanted to do, and stopped school in the winter of 1998 to be involved in construction work.

"I did well, and I gained appreciation of my employers and more skills than I would have in school," said Thane.

After stints at other colleges, Thane returned to the UW for the spring quarter of 2001 and decided that he wanted to major in architecture.

"Although I did well in my architecture classes (from that point on), it's fair to say that my previous grades affected my chances of getting into the architecture school," he said.

Sayrs also advised Thane, who told him to combine his architecture and history courses to pull together a degree through the general studies program.

Thane left the UW for another spell and returned during spring 2004 to put everything together for a degree.

"Between my first and second stint of school, I managed a warehouse and helped my dad with the business. Between my second and third stint, I did some carpentry work. At that point, I was well-trained in different crafts, but I felt there was a limit because I didn't have a degree," said Thane.

To Thane, college wasn't absolutely necessary in order to be successful and his father played a role in that view.

"Here's my dad who has been successful, not just in business, but as a person, and I look up to him. Through (his life), I realized that there are other ways to measure success," he said.

As for finishing his degree, he sees it as a way to expand his horizon to new possibilities.

"A friend told me that a lot of employers just want to see a degree, and that it opens opportunities. I just want to get it done to see what I can do with a degree, because I know that you can do a lot without one," he said.

Family roots run deep

"We both approached a lot of things differently when we returned to college," said Jeff. "Professors viewed us differently in class, more for me because of my age, but because of our level of maturity and confidence. We brought experience to the classroom."

Returning to college after breaking out into the real world isn't as uncommon as it seems.

"You would be surprised at how many people have similar experiences. Life just gets in the way," said Jeff. But this worked out for the best in both of their lives.

"We Garfield men haven't matured enough until we get distanced," Jeff said. He credited the war to his maturity, because he took time to grow up and decide what he wanted to do with his life.

Similarly, Thane's college education hadn't been a straight path, but he gained much from the pit stops along the way. One drawback, however, is that time is becoming an increasingly precious commodity.

"I have sacrificed in the sense that I did not have a straight four-year education, and there is so much I want to do. Life's not getting any longer."