To a degree

On Sunday, Zach Tasky walked across the Fieldhouse stage in his cap and gown, with a maize and blue honor cord draped around his neck signifying high distinction.

“I can’t even tell you how good this feels,” said Tasky, a 2015 College of Arts, Sciences, and Letters graduate and University of Michigan-Dearborn Difference Maker. “This is a journey nearly 20 years in the making.”

At 37 years old, Tasky said he’s done something he’s always wanted to do—earn a college education. Previously, there were always reasons, like time and money, to put it off.

That is, until his life experiences told him to quit waiting.

On Sept. 11, 2001, Tasky, who then served as a United flight attendant out of Boston, was originally eligible to work. But a late flight the night before changed things.

“I got back to Boston late, so I had to take the morning off,” he said. “I could have been on the plane that went into Tower 2, Flight 175. I knew people who were on it. I lost several close friends that day. It makes you examine why things happen the way they do and why you are here.”

Years later, when Tasky was laid off from his job and couldn’t find employment for a year, he could have stayed discouraged.

“I didn’t completely realize it at the time, but I was despondent. I am a resourceful, hardworking person, but I was unemployed for all of 2010. I just knew I had to keep going.”

And when his little brother, Steven, unexpectedly passed away at age 24, Tasky was at first numb—and then determined.

“My little brother graduated from college and was always chiding me and pushing for me to go to school. When he died, it lit a fire underneath me. I wanted to do this for me and for him,” Tasky said. “I’ve had second chances. I’m still here. I wanted to find my lot in life—and not just in a financial way, in a fulfilling one. I wanted to find a way where I could make a difference. I knew a college education could help me find it.”

Tasky enrolled at UM-Dearborn in fall 2011. The Romulus native said he chose this university because his sister, Cassandra, and several friends shared their positive experiences with him.

“Everyone I spoke to that went here had nothing but good things to say,” he said. “After not being in a classroom for 15 years, I asked around because I wanted to make the right choice.”

Tasky said the Dearborn campus was absolutely the right place for him. He decided to major in political science and minor in environmental studies.

“I would like to have a hand in the decision making process. There are many pressing issues I care deeply about — such as income inequality and equal rights — but I really want to work to protect our environment,” said Tasky, who said cherished childhood memories include family vacations to Yosemite and Yellowstone National Parks. “When you get down to it, there’s nothing more important than clean water, clean air and a stable climate.”

Through campus connections, he’s volunteered with the Friends of the Rouge, was elected vice president of the Political Science Association, completed an internship in Lansing with now Senator David Knezek (D-5^th District), and worked part-time at the University of Michigan’s Institute for Social Research—where he’ll start full time after graduation.

And in the future, Tasky, who has taken the LSAT recently, would like to attend law school.

“I want to pursue a legal education because I think it would help me operate more effectively as a political consultant for issues I find important,” Tasky said. “My experience here has opened up a whole new world for me. I’d like to keep going. I now know the power of education. Better late than never, right?”

As he walked across the stage Sunday afternoon, Tasky’s family was in the audience cheering him on. And Tasky said he knows Steven would have been incredibly proud.

“I think he’d be impressed that I actually listened—and a little jealous that my GPA was higher,” he said with a laugh. “I know that this is what Steven would have wanted for me. This is for us both.”