As Lynda Barker’s children leave for school in the morning, they "high-5” her as they count down the days.

Today (Dec. 14) they are down to number one.

"It’s just one more day until you graduate, mom,” Amanda Cloer, 21; Blake Sanders, 10, and Brooke Sanders, 8, chorus as their right palms greet their mother’s.

The three children and Barker’s husband, Steve, will be in the audience at Southwestern Community College’s graduation tomorrow night, cheering her on. The college’s first-ever winter graduation will be held at 4 p.m. Friday, Dec. 15, in the Balsam Auditorium on the Jackson Campus.

At 43, Barker will receive her degree in cosmetology.

"I’m the oldest student in the program,” said the Swain County woman. “That was really intimidating to me at first. Most of the students are fresh out of high school and on tests they would just go down the page, boom, boom, boom, answering the questions and be out the door. I’d still be sitting there, all by myself, trying to figure out the answers.

"I cried a lot those first few weeks of school. I just knew I was too old to make it. But the instructors- Connie Gregory, Randy McCall and Debra Ray- took me aside and told me, ‘Lynda, you can do this, especially because you are older. You know what you want and you know what really matters.’”

Barker did know what she wanted – to become a cosmetologist and to have her own shop.

"That’s what I’ve always wanted, ever since I was a little girl and braided hair on all my Barbies,” said Barker, who dropped out of high school when her dad got sick.

"Everybody’s intention when you drop out is that you will go back,” she said. “That was my intention. I just didn’t realize how long it would take me.”

When her daughter Amanda graduated from high school Barker took a long, hard look at herself.

"If Amanda can graduate from high school, I thought I should, too. You don’t want your kids to graduate and you don’t even have your GED,” she said.

So in 2005, with the encouragement of her husband of three years, Barker got her GED at the Swain Center.

"Steve has worked in the Swain County School System for 28 years- he knows how important education is. He not only encouraged me to go back to school but he helped the kids with their home work while I was doing mine,” she said. As soon as she received her GED, Barker enrolled in SCC’s cosmetology program.

Other than a planned church trip to the Amish country, Barker never missed a day of class.

"I love every part of the program, especially color with high lights and low lights. Some students generally have one part they don’t like- perms, for instance, but I like it all. And I’m surprised at all I’ve learned…not just hair, but they teach us the history of skin and all its disorders. I’ve learned about the body’s nervous system and the anatomy of our fingers and hands….even electricity and how current flows.”

In the middle of the semester Barker underwent a major medical operation and thought she wasn’t going to finish.

"I started to withdraw and I told my instructors I just didn’t think I could make it. But they took me aside, spent extra time with me and just kept telling me, ‘Lynda, you can do this.’ So every time I got discouraged I would hear their words in my head, ‘Lynda, you can do this.’

"They built up my confidence and stood behind me 100 percent. They just would not let me quit. When I’d get scared or nervous they’d tell me that was all part of it….that it helps you be more aware and not make mistakes. Connie would tell me, ‘If you are not nervous, then something is wrong.’”

In the middle of all the school work, Barker and her husband are remodeling his late parents’ home in Alarka as a beauty shop.

"I’m going to open my own shop- I’m actually realizing my life-long dream,” said Barker, who has named it Grace Reflections in honor of the Aunt Grace who raised her.

"Connie, Randy and Debra all said they aren’t throwing me to the wolves even though I’m graduating,” said Barker. “They told me they are just a phone call away and that they can help walk me through anything. That’s the kind of support you get at Southwestern. It doesn’t quit when they hand you your diploma.

"And I will tell you what’s just as important to me as that diploma…and that’s the self confidence they helped me develop the past year and a half. I feel so much more self-assured. I’m ready to face the new year…and the world!”

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