An Elon University student ambles through campus on a sunny afternoon.  She is many years older than most of her classmates. Students in the class may wonder if the person sitting beside them is their classmate’s mother, but she is in fact their classmate. Not only that, but she is an Elon professor’s wife.

This semester, associate communications professor Glenn Scott’s wife Misako Scott and assistant professor of Italian Samuele Pardini’s wife Tara Pardini are taking courses on campus.

Scott has come a long way since starting Elon classes. She was born in Kurume, Japan and met Glenn Scott 19 years ago when working in her family’s restaurant.

Since middle school, she dreamed of attending college, but in Japan, Scott did not have the opportunity because of her culture’s strict age norms. After a career in her family’s business, she was beyond the desired college age limit. Once she moved to the United States, though, she pursued a college education.

Her first college level courses were English as a Second Language classes at Alamance Community College seven years ago.

After working at Acorn Coffee Shop for four years and then working as an Aramark caterer for half a year, Scott decided to take college classes again-this time at Elon.

Scott is currently enrolled in “Introduction to Cultural Anthropology” and “The Global Experience.” Her academic concentration is undecided. She is not sure how many Elon classes she will take, but she does not want to bypass this chance.

“I am very thankful that Elon is giving me this opportunity,” she said.

As a professor’s spouse, Scott said she feels pressure to perform well in her classes. Since English is not her first language, she has struggled with reading and writing at times. She said she can perfectly translate text, but sometimes she cannot comprehend it because of unique cultural translations. Glenn sometimes helps her apprehend these passages.

Scott said she usually spends around 10 hours a day doing homework.

“She has amazing diligence,” Glenn said. “She is totally focused on this.”

Despite long study hours, Scott said the experience is irreplaceable.

“Education is the key to success and a bridge to the future,” she said. “A little bit of stress and suffering is good when learning.”

Pardini, like Scott, is also taking classes at Elon. Pardini’s husband Samuele Pardini was born in Tuscany, Italy. He moved to the United States in 1997 and met Pardini in Buffalo, New York, while pursuing his Master’s degree.

Pardini has been a dental hygienist for 19 years. She received an Associate’s degree from Erie Community College in 1996 and currently works at Smile Starters in Greensboro.  In fall 2013, she decided to pursue a Bachelor’s degree in public health at Elon.

“It’s nice to have a back-up plan,” she said.

Like Scott, Pardini has had her share of difficulties. She said bonding with other students can be challenging because of the age difference and because other students only get to know her through group projects. She said her expectations might be different than most students.

“I have more life experiences than someone who is 18, 19 or 20,” she said. “I have to understand that there are things that are preventing me from studying as hard. Because of my responsibility to my family and job, I realize sometimes my work won’t be perfect.”

Pardini said her husband helps her with Moodle and class registration. Since his wife started taking Elon courses, Samuele said he sees teaching in a new light.

“It’s helping me to see more things from the side of the students. I also see how much time she puts into it,” he said. “In a way, it makes me a better teacher.”

Samuele has lived as a Faculty-in-Residence in the Honors Pavilion with Tara and their seven-year-old son for the past four years.  Pardini said their living arrangement fits her schedule well, and enjoys getting to know the honors students who live in the building.

“Both my classes are in Lindner, so I just have to walk out the door,” she said.

This semester, her third at Elon, she is taking “American History Since 1865” and “How Should We Live?”

Both Pardini and Scott also acknowledged that balancing home life and college courses is a challenge.

“The stress gets bigger when the house gets messier,” Scott said.

Her 15-year-old son helps her through hard times by offering words of encouragement.

Scott may not continue classes next semester because she does not want to lose focus on her family.  She said she wanted to see as many of her son’s baseball games as possible during the spring.

Concerning the winter term, Scott said covering so much material in three weeks’ time might be difficult to follow. When she took a month and a half long history course at Alamance Community College, she was not happy with her grades.

Like Pardini, Scott’s age difference is obvious to other students. But many appreciate her contributions to class and group work, like first-year student Meredith Broderick. She was in an ethnographic research project with Misako. Broderick praised her diligence.

“She’s a really hard worker and great to have in our group,” Broderick said.

When the class discusses Japanese culture, Broderick said it is exciting to have Scott there.

“Many of us are experiencing the culture for the first time, but [Scott] already knows so much about it,” she said.

Pam Runestad, professor of anthropology, said Scott offers a different perspective to her class.

“She’s a very non-traditional student,” she said. “She has had a lot of different experiences in her life at this point, being married and having a child. This is certainly different compared to the other students in the class.”

Similarly, Frances Bottenberg, assistant professor of philosophy, said Pardini helps bring energy and a clear purpose to the class.

“I’ve had the opportunity to teach several non-traditional students over the last few years, and all demonstrated a high degree of personal investment in their learning,” she said. “These students were unusual, too, in that they regularly talk to me during office hours. A lot of learning happens that way, and non-traditional students seem more aware of the opportunity it represents.”