Mother and son – Karen and Timothy Kanke – to graduate together from Capital University
For Karen and Timothy Kanke, Mother’s Day weekend has a special significance.
The Kankes are to graduate May 7 from Capital University – Karen with a bachelor’s degree in biology and her son, Timothy, with a bachelor’s degree in interdisciplinary studies, with a focus on music.
The Kankes, who live in Madison Township near Groveport, enrolled in Capital at the same time by chance.
Karen and husband Roger homeschooled Timothy and their younger son, Christopher. Karen supported Timothy’s interest in music by taking him to guitar lessons at Capital to prepare him for an audition at the university’s music program.
“I just walked around campus while he was doing that. I was basically at a turning point in my life because he had just finished homeschooling,” Karen said. “I was deciding whether to go back to work in an office full time, or if it was the time for me to finally go to school because I had basically put it off.”
Karen said she ultimately decided to go back to college to earn a degree and expand her career options.
“I was a little bit familiar with (Capital) – my father and mother-in-law went there. They talked about it a little bit, and then there was Timothy’s interest in Capital and their music programs,” Karen said. “It was a small campus. I didn’t want to be somewhere that I could get lost or just be a number and just kind of pass through the system, so to speak. I wanted to get to know people.”
Timothy said he enjoyed sharing the college experience not only with his mother but also with Christopher, who is expected to graduate from Capital next year with a computer science degree.
“I'm very proud of my mom. I remember as I was growing up and she was teaching me and I'm like, ‘Man, she’s a very smart woman,’” he said. “I really am proud of her for the fact that she furthered herself, and especially going into something that me and my brother helped her discover (during homeschooling) – that she likes biology.”
The freshman year can be quite an adjustment for students. For Karen there was an added factor.
“I know when I started out, it felt a little weird being a 45-year-old freshman,” she said. “It has been an experience just to be in the classroom with students that are my kids’ age and just trying to relate to them and fit in. I’m a kid of the ‘80s. That’s where my pop culture is from, the '80s.
"It’s going to be interesting to have two Kankes going through (graduation) at the same time.”
Part of Karen's adjustment was joining Capital's tennis team.
Karen credited her sons and husband for helping around the house while she completed her education. She said she plans to work in a laboratory.
“I had a plethora of interests to narrow down in my major,” she said. “I looked at hire-ability, what jobs are growing, and the health care field is a vastly growing field. And I enjoyed teaching biology to my sons when I homeschooled them and felt like that was a pathway that I could make a living.”
Timothy’s degree combines the performance and technical sides of music-making, and he said he plans to pursue a career with an emphasis on contemporary worship.
While attending Capital, Timothy said he and his mother had no classes together. However, when classes were online because of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, they shared a learning space at home.
“We were kind of in the same room,” Timothy said. “I wouldn’t say ‘classroom,’ but we were in the same room.”
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This article originally appeared on ThisWeek: Mother and son – Karen and Timothy Kanke – to graduate together from Capital University
