Pamela Rider holding her degree; photo credit by Pamela Rider and consent to use given.
By Miada Hunte De La Chevrotiere
In the Fall of 1977, Pamela Rider enrolled in John Jay College for 12 credits in four classes intending to major in Criminal Justice. She got two A’s and two C’s.
Soldiering on, she kept at it until the Spring of 1980 when she took 18 credits and got straight D’s. Pressure to care for her family and the realization that criminal justice just wasn’t for her took their toll. She got a job with the US Postal Service and worked there until 2007 before retiring and going back to college.
Now, this Spring, she will receive her Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism, a full 47 years since she took her first CUNY classes.
“If there’s something you really want, and you’re persistent, then nothing’s going to stop you,” Rider said. “Especially when you have God on your side, because he comes first in my life, always.”
Born in August of 1960, Pamela Rider grew up in South Ozone Park in Queens. By all accounts, Rider is a charismatic and highly intelligent woman, whom her classmates love to have in class, considering her someone who lights up a room and makes the class thrive.
Rider said she had a desire to give good guidance to the people who looked to her, wanting to lead by example and hoping that the people followed in her footsteps.
Everyone, from her mentees, to people who may follow in her path in the future, will find her to be a good leader to look up to, which was one of the factors that led her to going back to school.
She had wanted to start branching out and doing things for herself, as well as make a bit more money for herself. After retiring from the postal service, she wanted to live comfortably and happily rather than to simply exist in a nebulous space, stating that living is different than meandering around with a fixed income.
“There’s more to life than, you know, gardening and just piddling around,” said Rider. “So I had decided to further my education—to place myself in a higher education.”
Coming back to school, Rider chose York for the ease of transportation, eyes locked onto the journalism program, as she says that being a journalism major was her goal, along with high expectations of the future, hoping for her own podcast or her own TV show.
“Perhaps I’ll be an anchor person,” she mused. “You know the sky’s the limit, especially when you don’t have any other responsibilities other than yourself.”
In fact, Rider has already been in pursuit of her goal of being a podcaster, having started one with a fellow scholar, a graduate with a Bachelor’s in Psychology. Rider has been using her skills as a marketer while her companion helps her with the technical side of the podcast, though it is currently on pause due to family matters.
Currently, Rider is attending online classes at SUNY ATTAIN, getting online certification in Microsoft Word and is working towards a certification in Microsoft Excel and PowerPoint.
“When I went to York in 2020, I didn’t even know how to turn on a computer, let alone work one,” she said, explaining the sense of shock she received in the drastic change in schooling. She struggled with the shift from pen and paper to PDF and PowerPoint. “Blackboard is on the computer now, I remember when it required chalk and an actual blackboard.”
Technology has been a point of contention with Rider, and the grief of having to learn these new skills has almost put her at her wits end; things like DiscussionBoard and CollaborativeUltra had left her baffled initially, however she is grateful to her mentors who have helped her grow accustomed to an online age of intellectualism.
“Going to college, it can be quite off putting in practice, or perhaps even scary if you don’t have the support system that you need,” Rider said.
Her family and friends are people who have been in her corner from the start, and express their pride in her accomplishments, especially after concerns of Rider getting overwhelmed or stressed due to her age, as most people in her position would have wanted to quit.
“There were a few times I did want to say ‘Forget it!’” she confessed. “But I’ve come this far, I’m going to finish this—I don’t like to start things and not finish.”
Breaking into Journalism was not as easy as she expected either, but she has full faith that there’s a niche that only she can fill as long as she gets the time, and content with walking before she runs, as the process has been rewarding for her. Being in a different kind of environment and networking with like-minded people trying to reach a higher goal has been a joyful, satisfying experience for her.
In her first year at York College she was the 2021 recipient of the Janice Cline Justice Award, giving her accolades for her community work and her demonstration of political activism, and the recognition of her determination and her desire to help feed people when she worked at a food pantry is something she considers her most satisfying achievement.
However Rider doesn’t fail to point out that the school administration, “…could pick it up a little bit.” Regarding administrative functions like Financial Aid or the Registrar’s office among others, she said she would have graduated in 2023 if not for the poor communication between some of the faculty and the students, as she was not made aware that she needed six more credits to graduate until after registration for classes had closed, which had been the only thing that disappointed her, and had almost discouraged her from continuing as she needed to push back her plans and shift her priorities.
“They say that we’re the Cardinal Family, we should all come together as a family—it shouldn’t be on just one person’s shoulder, because they have these positions, this is their job,” she added. “Everybody can get overwhelmed or have things slip through the cracks, or anything! I don’t think the blame should be placed just on one person. As a so-called ‘family’ we’re supposed to pull together.”
She expressed frustration that every time she had become accustomed to specific processes, that the administration would seemingly change things up and leave her floundering.
Rider also criticized York for its poor allotment of finances, claiming that the school—from the chairs, to the desks, to the windows—is in a state of utter disrepair and derelict, saying that the school has the resources but refuses to do better for its students.
“That school looks bad,” she stated bluntly. “Administration acts like they’re doing you a favor, even though it’s their job to help you—or they’ll try to make you feel ignorant! And you are, ignorance is bliss, and you’re ignorant until you can learn, and you can’t learn until someone teaches you. They want to make you feel like you’re annoying, go ‘Why are you bothering me? It’s lunchtime,’ and that’s not cool. They need to do something about the state of the building, and they need to do something about the state of the administration, because these are things that are going to make a lot of young students want to drop out.”
Despite her distaste for the poor treatment of the school compared to her time at John Jay, she has adored her teachers at York College, stating that they were wonderful and had supported her through all her ups and downs, making her feel welcome compared to her past teachers that seemed to only be a teacher for the sake of a paycheck; anything she needed, her teachers had made sure to be there to support her.
Rider said that anyone could be in her position if they can put their mind to it, “…but you have to have that passion, you have to have that drive.”
Chasing higher education is not something she considers an easy task, nor is it something everyone can handle, as she recalled that there were times when she had broken down and cried. Going to school is a task for the strong of mind, in her opinion, in order to overcome all the tribulation that comes with schooling.
She acknowledged that college isn’t for everyone, and that other options such as trade school or going into more computer-savvy markets.
“You have to stay focused, otherwise you’re going to be spinning your wheels and not going anywhere,” she said. “Sometimes I regret that I stopped going to John Jay, even if I didn’t want to pursue that career. If I did, I would’ve had my Bachelor’s already, I could’ve been going to school for my Master’s.”
Rider is currently applying to schools in order to get her Master’s degree.
