After 25 years, Ruth Lowe is going back to school, something she has wanted to do for a long time.
“I’ve sort of thought about doing it for years,” she said. “I just waited until my children were getting older.”
One of those children, Ben Lowe, currently serves as president of the Associated Students of the University of Utah.
According to Ben, his mother’s help was “amazing” when he and Mike Nelson were seeking office; she even thought of the No Bull party name.
“It was a very big deal for our family,” she said. “That’s how we are. I was a nervous wreck; I lost 7 pounds the week of the finals.”
Lowe said that during her son’s campaign, she felt “awful” when she heard criticism of her son and Nelson.
“I felt like saying, ‘You just don’t know these people,'” she said.
Although she was bothered by criticism during the election season, she said she is not bothered by negative comments about ASUU anymore.
“I know what a good job they’ve done,” she said. “If I felt like what they were saying was true, it would have felt a lot worse. I think I’ve developed a pretty thick skin.”
Lowe said both she and her son laughed over the April Fool’s edition of The Chronicle reporting Ben Lowe had a porn addiction.
This year, Lowe’s involvement in her son’s life includes paying $20.06 to ASUU out of the $154.92 she pays in student fees to audit a three-hour class.
“When you’re only taking one class, you’re paying quite a bit. Education is an extremely valuable thing,” she said.
Auditing a three-credit-hour class costs $572.32 in tuition and fees for resident upper level students. Paying tuition and fees has been an “eye opener” for Lowe.
Although Lowe was surprised at the high rate of tuition and student fees, she thinks taking a class is still a pretty good deal. She also is not worried about the fate of the $20.06 she turns over to ASUU every semester.
“I have total confidence in [Ben’s] ability, I really truly do,” she said. “They really are very careful with them.”
When Lowe was in college the first time around, she did not pay too much attention to student government, and didn’t really think it affected her life that much. She now understands just how much student leaders do, she said.
Lowe said she does not know if student government does more now or if she is just more aware of the things they do. She has attended ASUU events this year, and hosted an open house for ASUU officers.
“My mom and I are extremely close,” Ben Lowe said. “I tell my mom everything. She’s always there.”
Being on campus gives Lowe the chance to interact with friends of another son in her English class. Although she thought it was “weird” to be back on campus during the first day, because of her age, she said that after a week she was comfortable.
“It’s really been fun?the students are the same age as my kids,” she said. “It’s been great, not that I talk to that many people.”
Although Lowe could graduate in a year, she is not going to college with a degree in mind.
“I try to do something extra every year,” she said. “I thought, ‘Maybe I’ll just go ahead and take a class at the U.'”
When Lowe was in college 25 years ago, she majored in history, but this time, she is taking classes for fun, studying English literature and Asian art history. She audits one class a semester.
“I used to see older people sit in class, and I thought, ‘You know, that would be a fun thing to do and not feel all the pressure,'” she said.
Lowe is just auditing the classes she takes, so she does not have to take the tests or write the papers associated with the courses. She also feels free to select teachers and courses without worrying about each professor’s grading policy.
“It has no relevance for me; I can just enjoy the process,” Lowe said. “I share with the family the things I’ve learned during the day.”
Lowe initially dropped out of school when she had her first two children, twin girls who are now 26. Because she was so busy raising her children after that, she never really thought about the permanence of dropping out of school. But as she got older and continued to read, she wanted to study in a more formalized setting.
Lowe has considered taking classes for a degree, but has too many time constraints and doesn’t want to go back to school for a degree unless she knows she can do well. She also does not want to take the required classes for her degree, particularly the language classes.
“Part of the problem is, I want to take classes that sound interesting to me,” she said. She said she has already taken the “fun” classes she needs to graduate.
Lowe still spends quite a bit of time with her two children living at home, according to her son Ben.
“I’m kind of a mama’s boy,” he said. He quickly checked himself, saying, “I’m completely a mama’s boy.”