After graduating from high school, going to college often seems like a more appealing option than venturing straight into the working world.
Senior Stephanie Gallagher, however, decided to play it the other way around: career first, then college.
Gallagher is part of Tufts' REAL program, which offers adult students aged 25 and older an opportunity to attain a bachelor's degree by enrolling in the regular undergraduate program - and providing the necessary resources to help meet their academic needs.
The REAL program, which was established in 1970, was "originally designed for women who had not had the opportunity to attend college, or who had interrupted their education to raise families," according to its Web site.
When Gallagher graduated from high school, she applied to several colleges and was accepted.
But none of those colleges offered her much financial aid.
"My mom has massive medical expenses, so there really wasn't much money," Gallagher said. "When some schools suggested that my parents put a mortgage on our house to pay for college, I knew I had to search for more options."
Thus, Gallagher became involved in the information technology business in 1995. "I worked in Q&A, breaking software helping online corporate firms and dealing with their computer issues," Gallagher said.
Her work consisted mainly of acting as an online user in specific scenarios to prevent people from finding out about system flaws.
"You want to find what happens when you do X-Y-Z, and if everything crashes, you don't want your customer to find this out. This gives you enough time to fix it," she said.
Though Gallagher only planned on working in business for a couple of years, she kept getting promoted, and it was hard for her to leave the firm.
"I really liked what I did, but I finally said, 'Enough! If I don't go to school now, I will never go,'" Gallagher said.
In 2002, Gallagher started school at Palm Beach Community College in Florida.
"My plans originally were to apply to University of Miami or University of Florida after two semesters, but then I started thinking that I didn't really have to stick to state schools, so I started looking at schools in Boston," she said.
Gallagher researched schools online and found out about the REAL program at Tufts.
After speaking to the administration and filing an application, Gallagher knew that coming to Tufts was the right thing to do.
She visited for the first time in January 2004 as a second semester sophomore.
"I was coming from Fort Lauderdale, so when I first came here I wanted to die," Gallagher said, referring to her difficulty at getting used to Massachusetts' cold weather.
But besides the weather, she "loves" New England. "I'm never leaving: I love the culture, there's just so much to do," she said.
Gallagher is currently a major in classics and history. Although she knows that these majors have nothing to do with her previous work experience, she feels justified in her decisions.
"I waited nine years to go to school, so I should probably major in something I really like," she said.
Now that she is in school, Gallagher still has some Q&A contracts during the summer and vacations.
As hard as it is for her to work and be a full-time student each semester, she plans on trying it for the first time next year.
"Next semester, I plan to work for a firm about 25 hours each week," she said.
In addition to being a full-time student, Gallagher is part of a medieval recreation group in Boston known as the Society of Creative Anachronism.
"It's really fun," she said. "We do medieval dancing, and sometimes we even get to use knives. It's very entertaining."
When she graduates from Tufts, Gallagher plans on staying in Boston.
"I am planning on going back to [working in information technology] until I clean out my loans, and then I'm thinking about graduate school or a career change," she said.
"But I'm not going back to Fort Lauderdale," she added. "I'm staying here for good."
