Dad, daughter share college journeys
SLIPPERY ROCK — College graduation season is a time of celebration for parents across the country. But Michael Gregory of Freeport and his daughter, Chenoa, have more reasons to celebrate than most.
Both Gregorys — 49-year-old Michael and 23-year-old Chenoa — will receive degrees from Slippery Rock University next month. Michael is completing his master's degree in clinical mental health counseling. Chenoa is wrapping up an award-winning student career with a bachelor of arts degree in studio arts.
SRU isn't the first school the Gregorys have attended together. The pair started their college careers at Indiana University of Pennsylvania.
And while Chenoa's path to a college degree is one shared by thousands of students across the country, Michael's has been anything but traditional.
It was 2009 and Gregory was working as a truck driver — a job he never envisioned moving on from — when an Achilles tendon injury took him off the job and got him thinking about the future. Was driving a truck what Gregory, then 41, wanted to do for the rest of his life? He wasn't so sure.
“I wanted to do something where I was impacting other peoples' lives in a positive way,” he said. “I didn't want to chase money around in a box anymore. I really wanted to do something different.”
Chenoa said experiencing college alongside her father is something nothing can top.
“It was the best decision I ever made,” she said of coming to SRU. “I feel like we did it together, which is a great feeling. He's my parent ... but he was also my partner through the schooling process.”
