Page 5

Was it horse sense that led grandmother to become resident freshman?


Charlotte Wheat, 60, spends a few moments with a horse named Willy before her mid-term practical exam in the beginning horsemanship class at A&M-Commerce. Charlotte has three children and six grandchildren. She is a freshman, lives in the women’s residence hall, and belongs to the agricultural sorority. Willy was donated to the University last month by a local owner after an article about the horsemanship class appeared in area newspapers.

After Charlotte Wheat’s husband of 36 years died last December, she felt it was time for a change. Eight months later, she packed her bags, said goodbye to her grandchildren, and moved from her 40-acre horse ranch in Redland, Okla., into the women’s residence hall at A&MCommerce.

Charlotte is a 60-year-old freshman majoring in animal science. Her minor is equine science, a program that covers all aspects of horses, including their care and training.

Back at the ranch, Charlotte has a pure Polish Arabian stallion, eight mares, six foals and one gelding. Her love for horses, and the fact that A&M-Commerce was the closest university to offer an animal science degree, is what led her to Commerce.

“This degree is for personal information,” she says. “I work a lot with horses as far as the training aspects go, but I don’t know about reproduction and genetics. That’s one of the things I want to learn since I’m into breeding horses.”

Last year Charlotte retired from her paralegal job in Southeast Oklahoma. She moved into Smith Hall on Aug. 20 and started school Aug. 25. She plans to live on campus for the next four years until she earns her degree.

Only her years of experience as a working mother with three children, as a grandmother of six kids, and as a horse trainer and a craftswoman, separate her from other students; otherwise, Charlotte is a typical freshman.

She is taking 13 semester hours, has a meal plan at the cafeteria, hikes to class from student parking lots, lives in a residence hall, belongs to a sorority, chats on the Internet (with her kids) while playing computer games, and has even been asked out to a fraternity party.

Her age seems to make no difference to other students, but sometimes appearances are a little deceptive. “The kids treat me great. Most of the time, however, they think I’m a teacher. I’ve run into some students at the cafeteria who are astounded that I’m a student and not a teacher. When they find out I’m a freshman, they think it’s cool.

“One teenage boy even asked me to a frat party, but I think he was joking. Once he found out I was a freshman instead of a teacher, he said, ‘I need to take her to a frat party.’”

Although this will be her first degree, Wheat is no stranger to college life. In the past, she attended three different colleges and majored in three separate subjects: anthropology, art and journalism.

Before she was a paralegal, Wheat was a journalist for 20 years at various newspapers in Texas and Oklahoma. But she never earned a degree.

“I kept changing my mind, but I won’t change my major again. I’m too old to do that anymore,” she says.

Charlotte says she had a 3.9 grade point average when she started school and she has been able to maintain a 95 or above so far. “I don’t want to leave with anything less,” she says.

One of the classes Charlotte takes as part of her minor is a beginning horsemanship class. Instructor Mindy Morris says , “She brings a different level of maturity and a lot of experience to the class.”

Charlotee says, “I am fairly adept at horsemanship, but I’ve learned things I didn’t know.”

Her enthusiasm for horses led Charlotte to join the equestrian team on campus and Sigma Alpha, the women’s agricultural sorority. “I like to be active in the extracurricular activities that surround what I’m doing. It’s a way to support the department and get to know other students.”

She spends most of her evenings in her room on the computer or studying. She plays an online computer game called “Everquest” with her daughter in Indiana, allowing the two of them to “chat” at the same time.

Charlotte’s living conditions in the women’s residence hall are a little different from what she’s used to, but not in the way one might think. “I’m enjoying the privacy at the dorm. It’s kind of crowded at my home since there is always someone around, so I’m enjoying being by myself and being alone for a while.

She shares a connecting restroom with the girls next door, but she does have a private room.

“I don’t have to put up with all the teenage stuff,” she says. “Sometimes the kids play music loud, but I tune it out. When you have lived with a bunch of little kids, you learn how to tune it out. I just ignore it.”

She says she likes being around the younger students. “The kids are very helpful and friendly. When I moved in, they wouldn’t let me do anything. They did it all and they’ve been very nice.”

Charlotte’s youngest son, Charles, lives on the ranch with his family, and she tries to go home every other weekend to visit the grandkids and to check on her horses.

“I miss my babies and I miss my horses. It’s hard to leave them.”

Most of Charlotte’s children and grandchildren think it’s great that she’s going back to school, “except the youngest two grandkids want Grandma back home,” she says. “Every time I go back home, they say, ‘Granny, don’t go back to school.’ But I do.

“Going to school has given me something to think about besides my husband’s loss.”

DID YOU MISS IT?!



A&M-Commerce was featured on The Discovery Channel Network in December. Here, University President Keith D. McFarland is interviewed and videotaped by Kevin Mitchell for Pat Summerall Productions. The interview was part of a “Champions of Industry” program that aired last month. If you missed the show, never fear. Just go to www.tamu commerce.edu for the link to see it online. And that’s not all. For another nice all-around look at your Alma Mater, go to ecampustours.com and click on the arrow to the right of the school field. Then simply locate Texas A&M University-Commerce in the listing and select.

Four named to serve on Alumni board

Four Alumni have been named as directors to the board for the A&M Commerce Alumni Association. They are Phil T. Harris (BS ’86), Marion Houff (BA ’85), Denise “Dee” Jacobs (BS ’74), and Dr. Darrell Loyless, (MS ’68).

Marion Houff

Marion has taught Spanish and French in Pleasant Grove, Texas, since 1990. He has been honored for his service in education, and former students have nominated him three times to Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers. He co-sponsors the Interact Club of Pleasant Grove High School and is a charter member of the Texarkana International Rotary Club.

Phil Harris

Phil is a financial consultant with Smith Barney of Dallas and works with financial consultant Jeffrey L. Downing of the Downing-Harris Group. Before joining Smith Barney in 2002, Phil was a financial consultant with Merrill Lynch Private Client Group of Abilene, Texas. He was selected to the Merrill Lynch Winners Circle and was recognized as one of the firm’s top advisers, a Merrill Lynch Masters designee.

Dee Jacobs

Dee is the special events conference coordinator for Home Interiors and Gifts, Inc. in Carrollton, Texas. She is a volunteer for Operation Kindness, a no-kill animal shelter and is active in the Dallas Alpha Phi Alumni Association. She received the Ursa Major Award in 1994 and the Mary Crowley Achievement Award (Home Interiors Annual Award in leadership) in 1998.

Dr. Darrell Loyless

Darrell is vice president of Advancement for the Texas Methodist Foundation in Austin. He oversees communication efforts of the Foundation Relations Department. He was honored as Fundraiser of the Year by the National Society of Fund Raising Executives in 1994 and has held the title of Certified Fund Raising Executive since 1982. He has also served on the National Board of Trustees of the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education and has chaired one of its regional boards.