Is that older person in your history study group a real-life Thorton Mellon of Back to School fame?

When you see an oldster walking around campus, do you ever wonder what they are doing here?

What are their goals? What are their plans? Are they going to bring Oingo Boingo to a campus party like Rodney Dangerfield did in Back to School?

There are a variety of reasons to go to community college sometime after your midlife crisis.

This is the story of one reason.

Mac -- not his real name, we are calling him Mac because he isn't looking for publicity -- is older than most EVC students.

It's not hard to tell that he doesn't fit in with the majority. His hair is gray; his face is lines to show he's been around a while.

He's no Thorton Mellon. He isn't here to make friends, party or have a good time.

He has goals and he is working toward accomplishing those goals.

It might be taking him longer than he originally planned, but he sees himself getting closer every day.

For most of Mac's career there was a Berlin Wall.

For many of you the Berlin Wall is something in the history books. A relic from some previous period in the world's history.

Fro Mac, the Berlin Wall was real. It was a reminder of the war the United States was battling.

It was a war of capitalism versus socialism. Free markets versus closed markets. Good versus evil.

Mac's career was built on the war. He was doing his part to fight the evil empire, and at the same time moving along in his profession as a senior test engineer for various SAnta Clara County defense contractors.

Then the Wall fell.

Most of the world saw this as a great opportunity. The closed markets fell with the Wall, and free markets would be the way of the world.

Hallelujah!

The U.S. economy responded to the world's changes.

We took hold of globalization and made it our own. We shipped goods and services to every corner of the globe.

No longer were we content to celebrate our victory over communism, our new goal was to give everyone in the world access to Big Mac's and expensive sneakers.

The economic theory was that a rising tide would raise all of the boats.

But it didn't work that way. Mac's career was built around the Cold War. When it ended many of his vocational skills that he had built over the years had lost their value.

The new market didn't just compete for U.S. goods and services. There was also competition for well-paying, skilled U.S. jobs.

While his on-the-job training had tremendous value during the Cold War, now the competition had increased for those same skilled jobs.

Mac found himself competing for jobs with those he had worked to defeat earlier in his working life.

Potential employers started noticing the hole in Mac's Résumé where education was suppose to go.

Often times he didn't even garner an interview.

It didn't matter to these employers that Mac had spent most of his life defending the United States, the missing degree on the résumé was all that mattered.

Mac didn't whine or complain.

He didn't write his congressman or go looking for a handout.

Mac instead went to fix the hole.

He's getting close to an Associate of Science degree. He will complete his time at EVC next semester. That will give him another line to fill on his résumé.

But Mac won't be done with that.

He'll be going on to San Jose State looking to get the four-year degree that is so important to employers.

Some re-entry students are here for self-fulfillment. Others are here to relive their youth or to find something they missed out on when they were younger.

Some are hiding, waiting for the economy to improve. Others are here because learning can be fun when you dedicate yourself to it.

Mac isn't here for a good time.

Just like when he saw a problem at previous times in his life, he would hunker down and fix it.

He's working hard, getting his education over with as fast as possible -- regardless how late in life -- and then he'll move on.

You go Mac!