Graduate no longer feels 'unfinished'

Laurie Dye says she no longer feels “unfinished.” And, she’s looking forward to teaching about a dozen students in the first, second and third grades at the Alpha School east of Chadron this fall.

Dye initially enrolled in college in 1968 at Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo, Calif. But after a couple of years there, she was married, began raising a family and she didn’t return to college until January 1997, shortly after the Dyes moved to Chadron.

“I thought it was important to stay home when my kids (four of them) were young and to be available to help Bruce (her husband) with his work, but I always wanted to finish college,” said Dye, who graduated Magna Cum Laude from CSC.

Dye noted that she is just about the last of her family to graduate from college. Both of her parents had degrees from Cornell University in New York. Bruce has both his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Oklahoma State University. In addition, her two brothers and one sister are college grads, as are the Dyes’ three oldest children. The youngest of her offspring, Daniel, will be a senior at Oklahoma State University this fall.

Chadron State accepted 51 hours of the college credit she had earned at Cal Poly. She attended CSC for 10 consecutive semesters and two summer sessions before going full-time the past year while zeroing in on her degree in elementary education.

During most of that period until this past year, she also managed the family business, Outlaw Printers, in the 200 block of Main Street in Chadron.

“I took one or two classes each semester,” she said. “That’s a slow way to go, but I had to keep the business going. I probably worked more than I should have, but sometimes there’s no other option.”

This past year, one of the Dyes’ sons, Luke, moved to Chadron and served as co-manager of the business. Bruce, who is president of a bank in Gillette, was home on weekends to help out.

Laurie said she is grateful that the family settled in a college community. Otherwise, she probably would have remained “unfinished,” as she puts it.

She noted that her family made her feel important that she is now a college grad. Twenty-one of them, some from as far away as California, came for the graduation and reception that followed.