Master of Arts with Certification (MAC) - A Graduate's Story
4/18/06 - On Saturday, April 29 at 9:15 a.m., thousands of seniors will make their final trip to Michigan Stadium as undergraduates of the University. Christiane Amanpour, CNN's chief international correspondent, will be speaking at the commencement.
Amanpour is affiliated with the University through the Knight-Wallace Journalism Fellows program. This program permits mid-career journalists to pursue media studies at the University for a year.
Amanpour will not be the only one recognized for attending the University mid-career.
Among those awarded a teaching certificate will be Mark Pontoni, a Master of Arts with Certification (MAC) student, who never expected to be a member of the Class of 2006.
When he first came to the University in 1973 after graduating from Walled Lake Central High School, Pontoni thought he'd earn his undergraduate degree four years later.
Pontoni has had three stints at the University. "(The University) has been a huge part of my life for a long time," Pontoni said.
Pontoni's first shot at the University didn't go as originally planned.
One of his major obstacles was a lack of financial support from his family. On top of that, he found himself married and raising three children.
After only two years, Pontoni left the University for the first time.
More than five years later, Pontoni and his wife decided to make the financial sacrifice, allowing him to return to the University to “make it happen."
In 1984, he graduated with a bachelor’s in political science. In 1988, he earned a masters degree in the same subject.
With two degrees under his belt, Pontoni decided to give the business world a try, opening a marketing company, Merit Marketing Group. After facing economic difficulties a few years ago, he did what he'd always wanted to do – come back to the University to earn a teaching certificate.
“It's not easy to do when you are 50," Pontoni said.
“To all the people out there that are trying to go back and finish, it is possible."
The campus has changed a great deal since the '70s, Pontoni said. “One of the most obvious changes, he said, is the presence of deputized police on campus.
"It's not positive or negative, it's just really different," he said.
For Pontoni, students today are more career-oriented. During his time, Pontoni said, the students he knew focused first on being good people, and second on their career aspirations.
Students used to focus more on activities and less on propelling themselves into jobs, he said. Pontoni was very involved with Model United Nations as well as intramural sports .
As a volunteer organizer for an independent club that brings Model UN to high schools around Michigan, he has remained involved to this day.
Pontoni is looking to find a teaching job in Michigan but recognizes the poor condition of the job market.
"It's a matter of paying student loans back," he said.
Pontoni said he is better able to balance being a student and raising a family today because his children are grown and not as dependent on him as in the past.
One son attends the University of Chicago and another son, following in his father's footsteps, is finishing his fourth year at the University's Dearborn campus. His daughter is taking classes at Washtenaw Community College, but is considering transferring to the University.
by Leah Graboski
This article originally appeared in the 4/17 edition of the Michigan Daily.
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