When 17-year-old Arland Wallace first came to Wichita State University in the 1970s, he left after his first semester, realizing he wasn’t ready for college. After he retired from his job as a deacon in the Episcopal Church, Wallace decided to go back to school.

“As soon as I retired, I was sitting in my living room, looking outside my sliding glass doors, and I just thought, you know, ‘You never got that undergrad degree,’” Wallace said.

In 2019, Wallace returned to Wichita State at 68 — more than 50 years after his first semester. Then, in his senior year, came a terminal brain cancer diagnosis.

“Back then, I was healthy. I was older; I was in my late 60s, but I was healthy,” Wallace said. “Now I’m 72, and I’m not so healthy. And about three weeks ago, on top of this brain cancer, I had a stroke.”

This year, Wallace was the recipient of Adult Learner of the Year. The award was created by the Office of Online and Adult Learning in 2020, inspired by the experience of one of its workers and one of Wallace’s supporters at WSU, Pamela O’Neal.

O’Neal works as the associate director of student engagement in the Adult Learning office. She was an adult learner, returning to WSU to get her master’s in communication after 13 years.

O’Neal said even at their first meeting, she knew that Wallace was special.

“I just had coffee with Arland the other day,” O’Neal said. “I’ve been in this position for 10 years. I think he’s the first student that has offered to buy me a cup of coffee, and I took him up on that.”

I don’t ever expect anything from students, but it was just so nice that he wanted to buy me a cup of coffee.”

Passion for archeology

When Wallace returned to college, he wasn’t sure what he wanted to do. The first person he talked to was Angela Scott, his new adviser.

“She said, ‘What are you thinking?’ And I said, ‘Well, I just want to do one course,’” Wallace said. “I’d been out here for 50 years. One course, if it works, fine. If it doesn’t, no harm, no foul.”

As Scott went through the different classes, one caught his attention.

“She was kind of calling them out loud, and then she got to an introduction of archaeology, and I said, ‘Stop … go back and tell me about that one,’” Wallace said. “And she said, ‘There’s a brand new professor here on campus who’s teaching that class, and a real enthusiastic instructor.’ And I just fell in love with the topic.”

That professor was Crystal Dozier, now chair of the department of anthropology at WSU, who worked closely with Wallace throughout his time in the program.

“I remember meeting him, and he was a little apprehensive about returning to school, but he was super excited,” Dozier said. “And I love helping students that are interested to learn — that’s why I’m here. So I reassured him … that I knew he could do it. Any technology issues or unfamiliarity, we would conquer it together.”

Dozier said he “took like a fish to water” in the program. The two later worked on a research project over three years, mapping pumpkin leather ethnography in Kansas. It was published in an anthropology publication in England.

“He’s one of those that have found their passion. And as you know, it may sound easy to do, but it isn’t that easy. And I think maybe for adult learners, it might be a little bit easier because they know what they don’t want to do,” O’Neal said.

Wallace was less excited about math.

“I dread to take, more than anything … math,” Wallace said. “I kept kicking that can down the road. And finally, my adviser said, ‘Arland, you need to take that.’”

The diagnosis

One Friday morning last October, Wallace went to speak with his math teacher before the semester ramped up. Afterward, he went to get a COVID-19 vaccine.

“That Friday morning, my life and my world was an A-plus world,” Wallace said. “Because I just went in … and after talking to her, I thought, ‘I can pass this course.’ So I walked out of that meeting after talking to her, and I thought, ‘I can do this.’”

But the next day, Wallace woke up with symptoms more extreme than usual for COVID shots. He said he experienced a loss of reality and 10-15 syncopal events — sudden, temporary losses of consciousness due to reduced blood flow to the brain.

“Eventually, the doctor told me I needed to go to the emergency room and, through a series of scans, they found a brain mass in my brain,” Wallace said. “They went and took that out about five days later, and it turned out to be cancerous and terminal.”

When he got home, Wallace sat down and thought things through.

“I thought, ‘Well, I’m halfway through this semester, so I don’t want to stop now. And then as soon as this semester is over with, I only have one more to go,’” Wallace said. “So I got back into the saddle and started taking classes, and I ended up getting all A’s in that semester. And so that catapulted me towards my last semester, which I’m in right now.”

The first person he spoke to about his diagnosis was his adviser, Scott. Then, Wallace took steps to receive accommodations through the Office of Disability and Testing.

“They contacted my professors, and all of them were on board,” Wallace said. “‘No matter what you do, we’ll get through this.’ And so they worked with me.”

Because of the nuance of his diagnosis and treatment, Wallace faced different challenges than other students on top of the natural progression of intensity college brings.

“Each semester … the challenges get a little bit deeper, a little bit deeper, a little bit deeper,” Wallace said. “And then you put brain surgery on top of it, and then I was also in the middle of radiation therapy, then I was also in the middle of chemotherapy … So dealing with all that and then trying to stay up with all my classes was a challenge in itself.”

Though cancer is still a part of Wallace’s life, he doesn’t want to be defined by it.

“I don’t want to be defined by having cancer,” Wallace said. “I’d like to beat the cancer so it doesn’t beat me. But that’s yet to be seen.”

As of May, Wallace has one more round of chemotherapy to go through.

“I was told that if the scan stays clean and clear, I may not have to have any more chemotherapy,” Wallace said.

Wallace said one of the biggest lessons the process has given him is to listen to his body.

“If I’m tired, I give in to it, lie down,” Wallace said. “‘Cause if you’re trying to barrel through it, you may pay the price, it may take you two or three days to get over it.”

O’Neal said she’s inspired by Wallace. Thinking of him keeps her going on hard days.

“Sometimes I just have to remind myself, ‘Okay, if Arland can do it the way he’s doing it, I can get over this little pity party I’m throwing for myself,’” O’Neal said. “If Arland can do this, I can do this.”

People who know Wallace talk about his positivity, even when things aren’t going well.

“I don’t know how you have that kind of positivity when you’re given that diagnosis,” O’Neal said. “Of everything, brain cancer, what does Arland do? He learns. Where is learning located? In the brain, of all places.”

Despite the challenges, Wallace still sees the bright side of the process.

“It was a very positive situation,” Wallace said. “The professors worked with me and were very kind and ended up getting an A in that math course that I was regretting. And actually, on one of the tests, I scored a perfect 100% on it.

“I don’t know how that happened, but it did.”

Looking ahead

Wallace will walk the stage during the commencement in May, but has a few credits over the summer that he needs to take. Then, he plans on coming back to WSU for a Master’s in Anthropology.

Dozier said that with the master’s degree, Wallace would be considered Secretary of the Interior qualified. With that, he can either lead archeological projects or teach undergraduate courses in archeology.

“Right now, I’d just like to graduate and just have that accomplishment,” Wallace said. “Hopefully, I can stick around long enough to graduate from grad school. Then start teaching.”

Through the years, Wallace has gone to “everybody’s graduation.”

“After graduation, they always tell me, ‘When you graduate, we’re coming back,’ because a lot of them move away,” Wallace said. “But they all said that they would come back from my graduation.

“My endgame in all this is to teach a freshman-level archaeology class out here at WSU,” Wallace said. “And that will kind of go full circle.”

When reflecting on her relationship with Wallace, O’Neal had a hard time putting into words how impactful he’d be as a teacher.

“I don’t have words to describe how influential Arland can be in someone’s life,” O’Neal said.