Bonds Between Father, Daughter Come By Degrees

Dan Anderson had plenty of reason to be proud of his 17-year-old daughter when she picked up a diploma from Walla Walla Community College.

In turn, Nicole Anderson had plenty of reason to be proud of her father. He received a diploma of his own at the same graduation ceremony Sunday.

Like many fathers and daughters, they don’t agree on everything. The difficulty of their course loads is one point of contention.

Dan, 40, finished with a 3.7 grade-point average (with 4.0 being perfect), while Nicole earned a 3.0 GPA.

“Yeah, but if you took the classes I’m taking, you’d be failing,” Nicole told her father.

Dan earned degrees in business management and retailing. Nicole picked up her associate arts degree after she got her diploma from Walla Walla High School.

She was home-schooled for four years in elementary school, skipped the seventh grade and enrolled in WWCC’s Running Start program during her sophomore year in high school. The program allows high school students to take classes at a community college while the state pays for tuition.

Gonzaga University in Spokane has rewarded Nicole with a four-year, annually renewable $1,000 scholarship. Nicole plans to complete her bachelor’s degree at Gonzaga and then study law at the Spokane school.

The path to graduation was difficult for Dan Anderson, who had his right knee replaced in 1990. A year later, he left his job as a licensed optician to attend WWCC.

In 1992, his other knee was rebuilt, and in May 1994, he was diagnosed with a brain tumor. He is taking medication to treat the tumor, which caused him to tire easily and made studying difficult.

“We had all kinds of problems: tumors, knee trouble, teenagers,” Dan said.

He and his wife Barbara have another daughter, Michelle, who is a high-school sophomore, and a son, Nathan, who graduated from high school last year.

Nicole has been one of her dad’s biggest supporters, and took her homework when she visited him at the hospital.

“I’ve gotten used to the surgeries,” she said. “You just have to learn to deal with the bad days.”

Dan Anderson wants to continue his education and is considering taking a private program that would enable him to design and install computer network systems. His other option is to attend Washington State University to finish his four-year degree in computer sciences.

“Dan has had a rough haul,” said Steve Peters, who served as the elder Anderson’s adviser at WWCC and taught management classes to both Andersons. “Most couldn’t keep going and deal with what he’s dealt with. He’s worked hard, and now he has a bright future ahead of him.”