When Bonnie and Brian Waller graduated from college back in the 80s, they intended to pursue careers in healthcare. But those plans were soon put on hold when they married and settled into other careers. Bonnie took a job with the forestry service, and Brian went into healthcare marketing. Then kids came along—three of them—and the dream of medical careers became a distant memory for the Wallers. Bonnie came home to raise the kids and Brian continued to support the family in the workplace.

Now in their late 40s, with their children nearly grown—the youngest is 15 and the other two are in college—the Lancaster couple has renewed their dream as two of the 24 students enrolled in York Tech’s new night/weekend pilot Practical Nursing program.

 “The time is just right for us now and the program is right for us,” Bonnie said. “We’re also thrilled that we can do this together. It feels a little strange at times—we haven’t studied together like this since we were college students more than 20 years ago. But we really enjoy it.”

Bonnie and Brian “attend” online classes for three hours weekly. They say the experience of the online, real-time classes is essentially the same as a traditional classroom, with the possible exception of more interaction—student-to-teacher and student-to-student interaction. And like the traditional program, the new program is demanding.

“It is especially challenging for my husband,” Bonnie said, “because he works full-time, but he’s very motivated and determined to succeed. I think all of us in the program are.”