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Mature student Roger Beals graduates with a Bachelor of Management

Roger Beals is a study in perseverance. It took him 10 years to complete the first two years of Dalhousie鈥檚 Bachelor of Management program. Beals started part-time at the age of 43, taking one class at a time while working as a logistician for the Canadian Armed Forces.

鈥淥nce I started university, I figured out that I鈥檇 plateaued in the military,鈥� explains Beals. 鈥淚 never got the mentorship and coaching that I required or desired. As I got older, I knew that I needed something more challenging. As I took all these awesome courses from great professors, I knew I wanted to move on to something I really wanted to do, which is help people.鈥�

Once Beals retired from the military in 2016, he enrolled full-time. This spring, at 55, he graduated with a GPA of 3.73.

Life was not easy for Beals as a young man. 鈥淚 had some hard, lean years as a teenager,鈥� he says, 鈥渁nd I applied for the military.鈥� It took two and a half years for his application to go through. In the meantime, he got a college diploma in bank telling/data entry and applied to Dal. 鈥淥ne day, I got a batch of letters, one saying I was accepted to the military and the other saying I didn鈥檛 get into Dal, so the choice was obvious.鈥� He went on to serve more than 32 years, not realizing that his Dalhousie aspirations weren鈥檛 dead, just on hold.

After two decades in the Navy, Beals soon realized that had the opportunity to pursue higher education was never better. 鈥淚 was nervous when I first started my classes,鈥� he admits. 鈥淚 didn鈥檛 know if I could keep up with it. But most mature students do very well. I ended up with a lot of As right from the beginning. I鈥檓 a worker, so I don鈥檛 mind spending lots of time doing my work. I like to learn!鈥�

Beals was usually the oldest student in his classes, but that didn鈥檛 bother him. 鈥淚 can adjust to anybody. It鈥檚 like being in the military, where you have to work with lots of different people,鈥� he remarks.

Speaking of younger students, Beals was lucky enough to attend Dal with two of his five children, Kyle Fraser and Samuel Dixon. Fraser is in the accelerated nursing program and Dixon is completing a BSc and plans to be a veterinarian. Beals feels he was able to model good study habits for both young men, even taking a class and playing two years of intramural hockey with Fraser. 鈥淚鈥檓 not a helicopter parent, but it was good,鈥� Beals laughs.

Asked what advice he would offer to other people considering returning to school after a long time away, Beals says, 鈥淧repare, plan and you鈥檝e got to activate it. Don鈥檛 just say you鈥檙e going to do something. Go explore three schools. Figure out what your passion is. Most mature students have a pretty good idea of where they want to be.鈥�

Beals certainly knows where he wants to be. On top of completing his degree, he graduated from Saint Mary鈥檚 in January with a certificate in HR. He has also earned a Disability Management certificate from Dal and passed the Canadian Securities Course. In the fall, he鈥檒l be starting Dalhousie鈥檚 Master of Public Administration for Management program part-time. His aspiration to help people is alive and well. 鈥淚 want to be a case manager with Veterans Affairs Canada, and I鈥檓 in the process of applying now,鈥� he says.

Born and raised in Dartmouth, Beals is getting ready to build his dream home in Cherry Brook, and planning on doing some of the work himself.

Where does Beals get his work ethic? 鈥淚 think I鈥檝e always been that way,鈥� he says. 鈥淚 think people look at me strange because I鈥檓 working all the time. When I was young, I was a quiet, shy, introverted guy, and I wanted a better standard of living, a better life. I was poor, and I didn鈥檛 want to be poor anymore. I wanted to get ahead.鈥�