An example for fundies? (Mom of 11 goes to Harvard.)

[luckylibrarian]

http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/44716838/ns/today-today_people/t/mom-enrolled-harvard-i-seize-day?GT1=43001

From the article:

Allyson Reneau is among the sunny, motivated new faces on the Harvard University campus this fall. But you might excuse the other college kids for thinking Allyson is their professor.

At age 50, Reneau is not only pursuing an academic dream she gave up some 30 years ago, she’s cracking books while tending to a teeming gang of 11 children — seven still living at home. And if that isn’t challenging enough, Reneau lives in Oklahoma City, 2,000 miles from the Ivy League campus in Cambridge, Mass. where she's enrolled in the university's Extension School.

When I first read this, I thought, "What an amazing woman," but as you read through the article there are a lot of things that don't make sense.

“I think you have to have good balance, you have to have a great husband, you have to have a great supportive family,†Reneau told Morales. “I do three things when I get up in the morning: I read inspirational material — for me it’s the Bible — and then I head into the kitchen and I drink a sparkling energy drink. I say to myself, ‘Allyson, are you going to be a weenie or a hot dog?’

“I go run outside, and when I get back from my run, I feel like my morning mojo is going and then I execute. I seize the day and I don’t do slow. I won’t let anybody steal my mojo.â€

It worked out so well for Reneau she dared to dream even bigger — pursuing a master’s degree at Harvard. She told Shamlian it took weeks to summon the courage to contact the university, thinking attending Harvard “is so far out, that is so far-reaching of a dream, I didn’t feel worthy to call them.â€

But she made the call, and after two tries, was accepted in the Harvard Extension School, where she is taking the first of three classes in advance of being accepted into a master’s program in international relations.

It's all just a little too perfect. Reads the Bible, drinks an energy drink, and boom! She's Superwoman. And the article is a little misleading. I have a friend who graduated from Harvard's Extension School, and it's not the same as graduating from Harvard. It isn't hard to get in, as long as you can pay the money. I also have a hard time believing that communting 2,000 miles once a week to go to Harvard was her only option to get a master's in international relations.

It gets fishier:

She makes the mind-boggling 4,000-mile round trip commute from Oklahoma City to Boston each Monday to take her class, with husband Dale pinch-hitting for her until she returns home Tuesday mornings. Reneau found a private benefactor to pay the considerable costs of her commute and college expenses.

Where is this private benefactor and how can I find one? Why would any "benefactor" invest in a person's foolish decision to commute to an extension school, when a similar program is available in-state or online. It doesn't add up.

Something about this story doesn't add up. She specifically states that she is not Catholic or Mormon, and she just happened to get pregnant and have 11 children. And she also just happened to get a private benefactor to pay all of her expenses. Why?

Am I being too cynical? I just don't buy it. Maybe I'm being paranoid, but I'm wondering if a dominionist church or dominionist leader is preparing her for political office.

[Guest Anonymous]

She's a Dominionist plant? (hopping on conspiracy bus)

Who knows, if she's going to try to get into a Master's program, she must have an undergrad degree, so maybe she's not thoroughly entrenched in any fundieness....

[luckylibrarian]

She's a Dominionist plant? (hopping on conspiracy bus)

Who knows, if she's going to try to get into a Master's program, she must have an undergrad degree, so maybe she's not thoroughly entrenched in any fundieness....

Michelle Bachmann has an undergrad degree and a graduate degree, and I think she is thoroughly entrenched in the fundieness.

I'm confused as to why this woman would go to Harvard Extension and not the University of Oklahoma. And the private benefactor? Weird...

[GenerationCedarchip]

My first thought when I saw this story is that there is something going on here. My second thought was to wonder if Jim Leininger had something to do with this.

[treemom]

Private Benefactor sounds like code word for Sugar Daddy.

[clibbyjo]

I want a private benefactor so I can go to Harvard! Isn't there a nice, rich,secular minded person who wants to sponsor me? :whistle:

[Lainey]

I want a private benefactor so I can go to Harvard! Isn't there a nice, rich,secular minded person who wants to sponsor me? :whistle:

I want a private benefactor so I can have a house with an indoor pool. Any takers?

[kunoichi66]

Ironically, I was actually offered a sugar daddy relationship a few months ago....

who knows, maybe he could have paid my fees for a masters course!

[Lillian]

I find it hard to believe that a mother of 11 kids wakes up every morning and finds the energy to go for a run and 'doesn't slow down'. Sounds fishy.

Count me in on the private benefactor though! Ooooh...I want a new car!

[fundyfunland]

Just as I suspected. The Extension school appears only to be Harvard's continuing education department. From their website: "Harvard Extension School courses are open to the public—no application required." Woopie! Why this woman is flying across the country for continuing ed is beyond me.

[onlyorganic]

The extension school is continuing education. They advertise on the subway and it's similar to the University of Phoenix in helping people obtain career-minded objectives. She isn't living in a dorm off Harvard Yard and studying with a group of valedictorians from all over the world. Just sayin'. It seems awfully selfish when OU is such an excellent school to be flying to Boston for ONE DAY of classes. Flying from OKC to Boston isn't a 2 hour, non-stop commute. Also, the Extension School offers classes online. From the sound of it, she just wants a degree and wasn't too concerned with what it was in... she claims she had to reapply for a different program because she wasn't accepted into the original one she wanted? I'm starting to think that this is a wealthy OKC family who probably has an oil-tycoon friend helping pay for her to get a diploma with Harvard in the name which will be more of a feel-good boost rather than anything that will help her outright with her career-development.

[kaetrin]

Does the extension school offer a master's degree? The article says she is taking classes there "in advance of" being accepted for a masters. Where is the masters coming from? Harvard proper? Still doesn't explain why she has to fly to Boston every week for class. Crazy wasteful of time and money.

[fundyfunland]

Does the extension school offer a master's degree? The article says she is taking classes there "in advance of" being accepted for a masters. Where is the masters coming from? Harvard proper? Still doesn't explain why she has to fly to Boston every week for class. Crazy wasteful of time and money.

It appears from their website that the Extension School sort of helps to get your foot in the door. To get into the actual master's program, this woman still needs to meet the admissions requirements for it.

[keen23]

I was going to add that my father took Harvard extension classes back in the 1980's. While he was working on his 13 year plan for getting his degree.

And this woman and her company are heavily involved with Advocare, an MLM if ever there was one.

You can get a degree from this program. But it's not a Harvard degree. It's a degree from the Harvard Extension School.

[Austin]

Private Benefactor sounds like code word for Sugar Daddy.

My thought exactly.

:shock:

[SamuraiKatz]

Interesting story....I guess I would be chock full o'mojo and if I downed a Red Bull every morning... ;)

[emmiedahl]

I would eagerly take a benefactor for my degree at WSU. What, are moms of 5 not interesting enough? lol

[YPestis]

I'm glad she's following her dream. It looks like an awful expense for a program that will only HELP her get into the degree program she wants. And what does she plan on doing with her degree? I just wonder why she's willing to make such a huge financial and time sacrifice for a degree that she could have gotten quicker and cheaply at a local U, esp if she doesn't plan on attending grad school or setting policy for the State Dept......

[Chrystal-J]

It appears from their website that the Extension School sort of helps to get your foot in the door. To get into the actual master's program, this woman still needs to meet the admissions requirements for it.

All that running around for extension classes?

[Bella99]

Sheesh, I have taken classes through Rice University's School of Continuing Education. Sorry, not impressed, all I did was pay for the course. Wondering if her sugar daddy private benefactor is meeting her there? ;)

[browngrl]

Her husband buys this story?

He needs to "surprise" her when she is in Boston. Then he can get a chance to meet this "private benefactor" all up close and personal.

[lilwriter85]

I'm also going with the private benefactor theory. I think she would have been better off getting a degree from a local university.

[erunerune]

OK, so she lives in Oklahoma? Then I will put forth The Pioneer Woman as the mysteriously loaded benefactor. Will not speculate on any quid pro quo tho :o

[Kaylee]

Or the private benefactor is a publisher and she has some sort of book deal in the works based on the experience.

[treemom]

I want a private benefactor so I can have a house with an indoor pool. Any takers?

You really like pools eh?