By Amanda A. Taylor-Uchoa

RIO GRANDE VALLEY, TEXAS – DEC. 14, 2023 – Maria (Mary) Evensen always stressed the importance of achieving an education to her daughters. And on Saturday, Evensen is graduating with her own degree – a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Studio Art.

Evensen, now 67, started attending UTPA in 1975, but decided to stop so she could work and start a family.

Now, almost 50 years later, Evensen will cross the stage and accept her diploma. It has been a lifelong dream for her.

“I don’t know if I’m going to cry once I walk up,” Evensen said, thinking about this weekend’s commencement ceremony.

To show their pride for their mom’s hard work, Evensen’s daughters – Annette Perez, Angela Garza and Alyssa Urbina – pitched in to buy their mom a graduation ring ahead of commencement.

“I’m really proud of myself, and my family is really proud of me, too,” Evensen said. “Nothing was going to stop me. I am a very strong-willed person.”

‘I WANTED TO SET A GOOD EXAMPLE FOR THEM’

Receiving her diploma marks decades of work for Evensen, who pursued her degree in bursts throughout life’s many ups and downs. 

The Weslaco native worked for a developing company for 17 years before retiring. During her working years, she went through a tough divorce and eventually remarried.

After raising her first two daughters, Evensen at 37 decided to restart her college journey. Then she discovered she was pregnant with her third daughter.

“I tried (to continue with school), but I was five months pregnant and just lasted one semester,” she said. “And after I had my baby, I needed to be home to take care of her, and then just went right back to work after that.”

Evensen said that it’s not uncommon for people to put their education on the back burner when they have little ones, but finishing her degree remained an important factor.

At 43, Evensen tried to go back to school again and was able to get two more years under her belt before her financial aid ran out.

“The divorce really made me want to push forward and get my degree,” she said. “At that time, with no education, I thought, ‘What am I going to do now?’”

While Evensen had to stop attending college off and on, she always encouraged her daughters to continue their educations.

“I got to raise my girls really well even though we went through a rough divorce. I wanted to set a good example for them,” she said.

To celebrate Maria Evensen's accomplishment of earning her degree, her daughters – Annette Perez, Angela Garza and Alyssa Urbina – pitched in to buy their mom a UTRGV ring ahead of commencement. Evensen admires her ring during the university's ring ceremony on Nov. 14. (UTRGV Photo by Paul Chouy)

AGE IS JUST A NUMBER

Evensen said she’s always had a love for arts and crafting, so in retirement, she decided to revisit her dream of earning a degree and checked the resources UTRGV offered.

“Sure enough, I saw that UTRGV was offering financial aid for people over 65, which I was, so I got really excited about that,” she said.

Evensen took advantage of the Senior Citizen Tuition Waiver, which covers the tuition cost of 6-credit hours of graduate courses per semester based on space and availability.

She said attending school again at 65 wasn’t easy, but she had a lot of support from her family.

“My daughters are really good with computers and since I hadn’t been in college for so long, I didn’t know what anything was – like Blackboard – I said, ‘What’s a Blackboard?’ and they were able to help me navigate everything.”

Evensen was originally pursuing a degree in sports education in 1975, as she wanted to be a P.E. (Physical Education) coach but changed her major to Studio Art early on. Her goal is to start selling her art, which she said UTRGV fully prepared her for.

“Everything at UTRGV was amazing – the professors, the classmates, the resources – everyone was so helpful, and who knows, maybe I’ll come back for my master’s someday,” she said.

Evensen said there certainly is a stigma about being an older adult in class, but she said don’t let this fear hinder your goals.

“I loved coming back (to college), I loved it,” she said. “If anybody reading this is thinking about going back, I say just go back. If you’re willing, just go back. I think a lot of people think they’re too old to go back, but I did it and here I am now, about to graduate. It’s done.”

A SWEET SURPRISE

Evensen’s daughters surprised her on Nov. 14 with a graduation ring which they presented to her during the UTRGV Ring Ceremony.

“I really wanted a ring, but they were too pricey,” Evensen said. “I went to look at them a few times just to get an idea and look at designs but decided to wait to purchase one for myself later.”

In mid-October, Evensen said her daughters planned a surprise for her ahead of her graduation.

“They told me to make no plans on November 14, so I thought ok maybe they are taking me to dinner or something like that. My husband was in on it, too,” she said. “We get to the university, and I thought my daughter, who is a music major at UTRGV graduating next year, was having a surprise recital and we walked into the ring ceremony, and they showed me my ring.”

Decades of having to put her own goals on hold to work and care for her family came full circle for Evensen in that moment, who was shocked and grateful for the sweet surprise.

“It was really amazing,” she said with tears in her eyes. “I didn’t expect it and it was just so wonderful.”