UNK Online
UNK Online
From Sneaking into Lectures to Leading Them: Rick Brown’s UNK English M.A. Journey
University of Nebraska at Kearney student Rick Brown hadn’t formally stepped into a classroom in nearly 50 years.
He attended Doane University in the 1970s, majoring in theatre and music before taking time off to travel.
“This was before there was such a thing as a gap year,” Brown said. “That was just called ‘dropping out.’”
He spent time working odd jobs in Tucson, Arizona, and while most students were trying to sneak out of class, Brown was sneaking in to listen to lectures at the local university because he enjoyed hearing faculty share their passions.
Eventually, he decided to return to school, earning a degree in media arts from the University of Arizona (Tucson) in 1978.
Now, at “71 and a half” years old, Brown no longer needs to sneak into classrooms. He’s a full-time graduate student in UNK’s online Master of Arts in English program.
“The transition was a little hard,” he said. “Everybody on campus has been very welcoming and accommodating, even though I’m a nontraditional student and that’s been appreciated.”
With nearly five decades between the last time he enrolled in a college course, Brown wasn’t deterred by the online aspect.
“The technology is not difficult,” he said. “You have to be resourceful and that’s the same for any student. Like I tell my own children, ‘When you’re faced with a challenge, use your resources.’”
Brown’s return to school wasn’t motivated by career advancement or a new job. The retired Norfolk native simply enjoys learning.
Beyond expanding his knowledge, UNK has given him opportunities he doesn’t believe he’d receive at a larger university.
He hosts a weekly radio show “Americana Manifesto” on UNK’s KLPR-FM, which you can tune in to on 91.1 FM.
“It’s a rare treat to get handed three hours of on-air time to play what you enjoy, almost like free-form radio of the 1970s,” Brown said. “I also like to interject humor into the station announcements, something that usually seems so boring and pedestrian.”
Another opportunity Brown received from UNK was a graduate assistantship with the Department of English as a teaching assistant.
Now, he’s the one at the front of the classroom, sharing his passions for art, music, and creativity – hopefully only with undergraduate students who are supposed to be in his beginning writing classes.
“I love teaching,” he said. “I love the performance aspect of it. Unless you hold the attention of students, they're not going to absorb the same amount of information than if you are doing novel things that keep their interest high.”
The English master’s program prepared him for his teaching role through supportive faculty and graduate-level pedagogy courses.
UNK’s English M.A. offers four focus areas: literature; creative writing; composition, rhetoric, and language; and childhood and youth studies. Students complete 36 credit hours, with only 9 – 12 required classes, giving them flexibility to tailor their class schedule to personal interests and goals.
“I love the opportunities for creativity within the curriculum,” Brown said. “There are professors who are highly creative as well as being extremely well-versed in their specialties. They do a wonderful job of guiding students through the creative process.”
With more than 120 course options, ranging from poetry to the graphic novel to English around the globe, the program offers something for every student.
For Brown, it’s never been about the degree. It’s about the joy of discovery, the art of teaching, and the chance to share ideas with a new generation of learners.
“It's been a terrific experience,” he said. “I would encourage anybody who's interested in lifelong learning to continue their education because there's so many highly qualified experts here who are so happy to share their expertise with students.”
