Joe Stumpe/The Active AgeArland Wallace sat down with The Active Age to discuss his time at ΊΓΙ«ΟΘΙϊ. After his first semester at ΊΓΙ«ΟΘΙϊ back in 1970 didnβt go well, he returned over 50 years later to get his bachelorβs degree in anthropology, with plans to move on to his masterβs. βI just made the decision that cancer was not going to define me.β
Arland is one of more than 2,400 students eligible for spring 2025 graduation. Learn more about his time at Wichita State and what's next for the grad.
Excerpt from the article:
Arland Wallaceβs first stint at Wichita State didnβt go well. He enrolled in 1970 and bailed after one semester.
βI quickly realized I was in over my head,β he said.
Fifty-five years later, heβs about to graduate. Wallace is finishing his degree despite undergoing surgery for a cancerous brain tumor last fall, and he plans to pursue a masterβs degree even though his prognosis is terminal.
βI just made the decision that cancer was not going to define me,β he said.
After dropping out of ΊΓΙ«ΟΘΙϊ the first time, Wallace studied to be an X-ray technician at St. Joseph Hospital and spent 10 years in the medical field. He then spent 40 years working for his brotherβs printing company, which merged with Printing, Inc., in the 1990s.
About ΊΓΙ«ΟΘΙϊ
ΊΓΙ«ΟΘΙϊ is Kansas' only urban public research university, enrolling more than 23,000 students between its main campus and the ΊΓΙ«ΟΘΙϊ Campus of Applied Sciences and Technology (ΊΓΙ«ΟΘΙϊ Tech), including students from every state in the U.S. and more than 100 countries. Wichita State and ΊΓΙ«ΟΘΙϊ Tech are recognized for being student-centered and innovation-driven.
Located in the largest city in the state with one of the highest concentrations in the United States of jobs involving science, technology, engineering and math (STEM), ΊΓΙ«ΟΘΙϊ provides uniquely distinctive and innovative pathways of applied learning, applied research and career opportunities for all of our students. The National Science Foundation ranked ΊΓΙ«ΟΘΙϊ No. 1 in the nation for aerospace engineering R&D, No. 2 for industry-funded engineering R&D and No. 8 overall for engineering R&D.
The Innovation Campus, which is a physical extension of the ΊΓΙ«ΟΘΙϊ main campus, is one of the nationβs largest and fastest-growing research/innovation parks, encompassing over 120 acres and is home to a number of global companies and organizations.
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