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To the average observer, Gina Roby, 41, and a successful businesswoman, might make for an unlikely college sophomore. Walking around campus, you might mistake her for a faculty member or a member of the campus staff.
For Gina, however, right now in her life this is where she belongs — sitting in a classroom as a student working toward a Human Resource Management degree.
“I ran a salon, Phenomenal Haircuts, for 20 years. At 40-something, there was definitely some pruning of the synapses going on — I was tired of doing what I was doing,” Gina said. “It was a booming business, but I was personally bored. I had maxed out what I felt I could do in that particular field and it was no longer a challenge to me.”
Gina decided to sell the business to her salon manager and “figure out what I was going to do for the next 40 years.”
“The first 40 went by so quickly, I decided that for the next 40 I was going to do what I wanted to do,” she said. “Human resources seemed like a good move since I was good at dealing with people. But I just threw my cards up in the air and waited so see where they would land.”
Fortunately they landed right at the Ambler campus.
“When I first came back, I was a little scared. I didn’t know what kind of grades I would get,” she said. “But you get used to it; I think you remember how to be a student again. I was getting straight A’s by last spring.”
It also helps to make a return to familiar territory.
“I am a Temple baby. My mom (Marlene Newton) is in the 20-year (employee) club. Temple has been very good to my family with sisters and family members who worked here or went to school here or both,” Gina said. “I worked in Facilities Management for three years; I trust Temple. That red and the Temple T remind me of how my mom was happy — she was a single mother raising us on her own. (Temple) is like a security blanket.”
A helpful thing to have when “I’m doing what I really want for the first time in my life.”
“In the early 80s I was married to a serviceman and I thought it would help our economic situation if we served as a couple. I served in the Army in Germany for three years,” Gina said. “I had various types of jobs; on Sundays I’d assist the chaplain who represented every religion on the base. It was terrific exposure to diversity both culturally and in experiencing assorted job fields.”
On returning to civilian life, Gina said, she became “discouraged with the mainstream.”
“At 23-years-old, I found out I was black and that I had a ‘place;’ it was a subtle vibe and I couldn’t take it. I felt society didn’t really see me,” she said. “I wondered how I could be a ghost; I’m so brown how can they not see me? I was so sad at that point in my life.”
The only way to be visible, Gina said, “was to be social.”
“The salon gave me more control of my life. I was not invisible and I could be successful,” she said. “For 20 years I worked like a dog. Now I study all day and I dedicate my time to my classes.”
The fall semester’s classes include Human Resource Management 083, Organization and Management; Political Science C052, Foreign Governments and Politics; Statistics 1, Basic Quantitative Foundations for Business and Economics II; and Legal Studies C001, Law in Society.
“There seems to be a theme in some of my classes of recognizing diversity. That’s the way the world is going,” Gina said. “There’s a shift in management; it’s less toward rigid environments and more toward teamwork. I think ultimately, they want employees to think and work together. The world is changing, there’s a lot more flexibility.”
Of course returning to the classroom after many years, has taken a little getting used to, Gina said, for both herself and her fellow classmates.
“I think the average freshman is not really sure how to deal with me. I comment about reality and I do challenge instructors,” she said. “As an entrepreneur, is it hard to realize that I’m not the one in control, that this is not my world. To me, it seems that many teachers want that kind of engagement, they want to have students that are willing to challenge them.”
Outside of the classroom, Gina has taken up writing pieces for The Parable, the campus literary journal. She is also exploring joining the Society for Human Resources Management and the Communications Society, “but school comes first.”
“At 40, I wanted to reinvent myself. I don’t want to work in a corporate office,” I said. “I want to work with people for the good of the culture and the (social) environment. I want to incorporate what I’m learning back into the community.”
For other individuals above what would typically considered college age, Gina’s advice is to the point.
“Look at how fast you got to the age you are now. If you look at your life and you aren’t happy, what do you have to lose?” she asked. “If you’re over 30, there should be no fear in you and no real excuse not to go after whatever dream you want to.”
This is the first part of an “A Year in the Life” series featuring Gina Roby. Gina, who lives in Philadelphia, was a sophomore pursuing a degree in Human Resource Management at the timeof the series.
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