Fontbonne MBA program offers escape
By Anne Shaw Heinrich
For the St. Louis American
“To so many people who put off going back to school to get an advanced degree, I want to encourage them. It’s the best decision you can possibly make. As I look back on it now, for me, it’s a no-brainer. I’m so glad I did it!”
That’s how strongly Lorraine Howard feels about her choice to go back to school. Howard enrolled in Fontbonne University OPTIONS MBA program in 1997 and finished up in 1999. For Howard, getting the degree opened the floodgates of change for her life in all aspects. This is her story.
To the casual observer, Lorraine Howard already had her act together. She had an established career in education administration and liked what she did. And she was good enough at what she did to be a college instructor for future administrators. She was married and had one son. Things looked pretty good. But she wanted an advanced degree. It had been fifteen years since she’d been a student herself, so she chose carefully. The OPTIONS convenient and accelerated format really appealed to her. She got started on her coursework and forged ahead with straight A’s, despite the turmoil that was boiling over in her personal life.
Howard finally worked up the nerve to divorce, something she never thought she’d be able to do because she just wanted to keep her family together.
“I am a domestic violence survivor,” she says. “I don’t like to use the word victim. I lived that life in secret for many years. The effect it had on me mentally was crushing. With counseling, I knew I had to get back to who I knew I was. I had to rebuild my life.”
Just like many women in her position, Howard was embarrassed about the abuse that was taking place in her home. It was just so unlikely. They were professionals, a very social couple. Nobody would suspect the violence that was taking place behind their upper middle-class doors.
“It’s the deepest, darkest secret that so many women keep and live with,” says Howard.
After she earned the MBA through OPTIONS, Howard continued her work in education, but began volunteering at a domestic violence center. She began to feel the pull toward a career in a field that would serve women she felt she could really help.
“I just really had compassion for women who were trying to take that first step away from the abuse,” Howard recalls. “They think it’s going to get better, but eventually, there’s always going to another flare-up.”
Howard’s colleagues at the center noticed how intuitively she responded to frantic telephone calls for help.
“They saw how I would answer the phone,” she says. “You can’t put a woman who has finally worked up the courage to reach out for help on hold!”
As her passion for the volunteer work grew, Howard began to realize a career was in order. After 23 years in the field of education, she decided to retire and focus her energies on social services work. Her first official job in the field was at the same domestic violence shelter in which she’d clocked so many volunteer hours.
As a women and children’s advocate, she’s now doing what she considers a part of her calling. The safe house serves about 50 families in the St. Louis area and its location is confidential.
When she reflects upon her time at Fontbonne University, Howard says, “It was the start of everything that satisfied all of my dreams and desires. I’m so glad I made the decision to start a second career, too. For people who are at a crossroads in their lives, I want them to know that it’s okay to go into a different area.”
Howard still hasn’t stopped dreaming. Now she’s pursuing a degree in pastoral studies at Eden Theological Seminary. She finds herself called to street evangelism.
“I just like to ask people, ‘How are doing?’ and letting them know that life can be better.”
Most OPTIONS courses are five to eight weeks in length. All degree programs have been sequenced to be completed in two years or less. OPTIONS classes meet on the same evening each week.
OPTIONS undergraduate and graduate degree programs are accelerated and begin throughout the year at several convenient locations: Clayton, South County, North County, Chesterfield and downtown St. Louis.
Fontbonne University has been a provider of high-quality educational programs for more than 80 years. For more information about your OPTIONS, call 314-863-2220 or visit the website at www.options.fontbonne.edu.
