A CHIP ON HIS SHOULDER

Craig Matta of New Bern, who enrolled at ECU in 1966 and left without a degree in 1970, said several factors, including grades and money, contributed to his decision.

“I ran out of talent and money at the same time,” he said. “And Uncle Sam was expressing a desire to have me come join him. And so I really had to bail out. I knew I was close but I hadn’t finished.”

Craig Matta prepares for his first day of class at ECU since 1970.
(Contributed photos)

Matta went to work and joined the U.S. Army Reserve, ultimately missing a deployment to Vietnam. He ended up working for Brown and Williamson Tobacco Corporation, spending 25 years in human resources and another five in risk management. Along the way, he said, he made up for not having a degree by working harder.

“It always kind of stuck in my craw,” he said.

At times in his career he recruited college graduates to work for the company, including some he would compete against for promotions.

“I knew I had to work my butt off to make up for that difference,” he said.

He also wanted to complete his degree for his siblings, none of whom attended college, and his mother, who is now 100 years old. After retiring, completing his degree was the top item on his bucket list, he said.

But his initial inquiries into the matter yielded disappointing results; his calculations for the time and financial investment didn’t add up, he said, for something he was going to do solely for personal satisfaction. A few days later, he was contacted by Dr. Tessie Guidry of the Academic Advising Center.

After working on his transcript and discussing it with the chair of the psychology department, it turned out that Matta needed only one course to graduate.

“They eliminated some of those F’s I had gotten early on and got me up within swinging range,” Matta said.

Matta is among a handful of students who have returned to complete a journey they started years — or even decades — ago.

This fall, he’s enrolled in a warm-up course, and in the spring he’ll take the class he needs to graduate. Matta said he’s been amazed by the personal attention from everyone involved, from the advisors to his professors.

“I really didn’t think there was anybody else going to school here except me,” he said. “I have been incredibly surprised, shocked actually, at the help that they’ve given me.”

“He just needed an advocate to really spend the time looking at his records and seeing what we could do to help him,” Guidry said. “Oftentimes a quick glance at a transcript or running a report isn’t the same as that special one-on-one attention that he gets from the Partway Home advisor.”