by Dennis Dalman
Adam Scepaniak is a man of many hats. He is a St. Joseph City Council member, candidate for city mayor, firefighter, merchandising officer for the Guns and Gear store, managing editor, staff writer for many publications and now (last but not least), thanks to a happy set of circumstances, he at long last holds a college degree.
Just recently, at age 37, Scepaniak was awarded a bachelor’s degree in elective studies from St. Cloud State University.
The degree was a long time coming – 18 years to be exact. For all those years, Scepaniak abandoned the idea of ever earning a degree. That’s because way back when he quit college to work with his father, who had started a store called Guns and Gear in Waite Park. He had once figured he’d get a degree at SCSU, after which he would go on to earn a doctoral degree at the University of Minnesota (Duluth) and then begin a career as a physical therapist.
Throughout those 18 years, as Scapaniak took on more and more jobs, he more or less forgot all about that long-ago degree that he’d once been so close to receiving.
But then, a few months ago out of the blue, serendipity happened. When Scepaniak announced his candidacy for the St. Joseph mayor’s position, lots of local media covered that story, including the St. Cloud Times newspaper. During an interview for that story, Scepaniak, while talking about the arc of his life, mentioned he had dropped out of college to work for his father at Guns and Gear.
One of Scepaniak’s fellow firefighters, Justin Hunt, read the Times’ story. A bit later, Hunt and one of his neighbors, Danielle Olson, were talking about Scepaniak’s mayoral candidacy when Hunt mentioned how he, Scepaniak, had dropped out of college to work for his father.
Lo and behold, it just so happens Olson works as a graduation evaluator at St. Cloud State University. She decided to check Scepaniak’s college records to find out how close he’d been to graduating. She discovered he had been only one class away from earning his diploma, so she reached out to Scepaniak.
“I appreciated Danielle for reaching out, but I told her I was aware (of that one class) and wasn’t interested in finishing my degree,” Scepaniak wrote on his website. “It’s been over a decade since I was in college, and I told myself I made it this far (without a degree).”
Scepaniak then told his wife, Andrea, about Olson’s call. Andrea, he said, has always “been my support and voice of reason.” In no uncertain terms, she told him he should finish the work and get his degree.
“So I relented and took her sage advice,” he said.
Meantime, Olson decided to look into Scepaniak’s college records further and much to her surprise she noticed graduation requirements for Scapaniak’s field of study had changed in 2010. That last class he didn’t take was no longer needed. She told Scepaniak that his diploma would soon be in the mail.
No one was more surprised than Scepaniak, and Andrea was so happy to hear the good news.
He posted on his website the following words:
“So here I am 37 years old with six or seven jobs, an internationally published writer and editor – finally getting a college degree.” He placed after that comment a yellow “smiley face” meme.
Then he posted this statement:
“Thank you to Andrea who always supports and motivates me to be my best. Also, thanks to everyone else who (through) happenstance made this happen!”
You can be sure that better-late-than-never diploma will be framed and hung on a wall in the Scepaniaks’ home – if it isn’t already. Adam now has a new diploma, and speaking of new, he and Andrea will soon have a new baby – their first.
contributed photo
This is a photo of the diploma earned by Adam Nicholas Scepaniak, which was sent to him in the mail 18 years after he earned it.
Adam Scepaniak
