COLUMBUS, Ohio — Karen Kranke turned her home into a college dorm room, all to help her and her son reach their goals.
What You Need To Know
- Karen Kranke quit her office job to become a stay-at-home mom to her two sons
- She enrolled at Capital University in 2018 to receive her degree in Biology
- Timothy Kranke transferred to Capital University after receiving his Associate’s degree from Columbus State Community College
- Timothy studied music and theory
- Both Krankes hope to get jobs in their field after graduation
More than two decades ago, Karen Kranke quit her office job to become a stay-at-home mom and home school teacher to her two sons, but once they graduated high school, she was at a crossroads.
“Do I go back to work?” said Karen. “I was working in an office; or do I go get the degree I’ve been putting off?”
She was taking her youngest son, Timothy, to guitar lessons at Capital University and got familiar with the campus. It was 2018 when she decided she would pursue a degree in biology.
“Biology was something that I enjoyed teaching them when they were in home school and it was the science that came the easiest to me and I felt that it was a pathway to health care and I could go behind the scenes and work in a laboratory,” said Karen.
She went to school full time and got the full college experience. She signed up for organizations and secured a spot on the tennis team.
She felt life was great until COVID-19. Her 900-square-foot home became a classroom and an office and it was a struggle to juggle online classes.
“We were pretty good for the most part, but then now again if we were ‘zooming’ we were just trying to respect each other’s space and either be quiet or not to be in the shot,” said Karen. “That was a little challenging.”
Those challenges would look like Karen trying to perform virtual labs, and Timothy performing scales on his guitar.
Timothy majored in music, meaning the house got pretty loud. He took ensemble classes through Zoom and tried to stay in one accord. His voice would boom through the house with scats and do-re-mi scales.
“I sound like I’m crazy talking all this gibberish and all that, while they’re out there like my mom would be focusing on a class doing biology,” said Timothy.
While many college kids might not want to go to school with their mom, Timothy carried a sense of pride with him everywhere he went on campus.
“She was just like you know what, I’m going to move on, I’m going to pursue biology because I found that really interesting when I did that with the boys and I’m going to get a degree,” said Timothy.
After they finished their last couple of finals, their last step was to walk across the stage. They decorated their caps side by side. Timothy said he couldn’t wait to walk in his mom’s footsteps.
“It’s just impressive and it just amazes me ‘til this day that I’m graduating from college and get to graduate with my mom,” said Timothy.
Karen hopes to get a job conducting medical research to cure Alzheimer’s disease and Timothy hopes to become a musical pastor at a church.
