By Randi Anderson Berry
Though my mother and I attended college at the same time, graduating in 1981, our experiences were very different. I was the youngest of four and Mom waited until her nest was empty to take her first class. Back then, women were expected to raise the children. My mother handled the home front with ease but earning a college degree was a longtime goal.
During high school, a teacher told Mom that she wasn’t college material. Those words kept her out of the classroom for a long time, but as she packed me off to USC she gathered her nerve and took a class at Greenville Technical College. When she submitted an assignment for that first history class, the paper was so well-written that her professor read it to the class as a model of outstanding work. Despite what her high school teacher had told her, Mom found that she belonged on a college campus after all. Ultimately, she graduated from Greenville Tech and transferred to USC-Spartanburg to earn a bachelor’s degree.
Things were different for my sisters and me. There was no question that we would attend college. I remember when I grew frustrated with all the time I was spending in class, my mother pointed to the summer job I’d been complaining about while reminding me that a college degree was the key to something better. I graduated and became a teacher, joining my three sisters in the field of education.
My parents were very successful with the business they built together, Anderson Hardwood Flooring, allowing my mother to give to causes that meant a great deal to her. Over many years, she was a strong and loyal supporter of Greenville Technical College. It’s fitting that the last big pledge she made was a $2 million gift to what she referred to as her college, to create a student success center.
Mom didn’t live long enough to see completion of the building on Greenville Tech’s campus that would bear her name. We said our final goodbyes to her last year. But she would be thrilled with the new Dreisbach/Anderson Student Success Center and its emphasis on students as the top priority, even rotating services to the student rather than having the new enrollee walk from one office to the next.
As my mother selected a building name, she chose to honor a classmate who had inspired her. Daniel Dreisbach worked nights as a hospital orderly to finance his education. When he graduated from Greenville Tech, he moved on to USC-Spartanburg as Mom did, keeping in touch with his GTC instructors as he made future plans. One of those instructors encouraged him to pursue the Rhodes Scholarship. He is the only South Carolina Technical College System graduate to achieve that honor.
Giving this final gift allowed my mother to come full-circle. She paid forward the love, care and support that she and Daniel received at Greenville Tech so that other students can take those first steps, find resources to help and meet their goals. This week, we cut ribbon at the new center and I remembered my mother telling me that education is the key to something better. I know that many students will find that key because of the building that one of Greenville Technical College’s proudest graduates helped create.
Randi Anderson Berry, whose mother was Dodie Anderson. Dodie donated $2 million to Greenville Technical College, making possible the new Dreisbach/Anderson Student Success Center, which helps students find the support to overcome hurdles that stand between them and educational opportunities.
