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Never too late: Bachelor of Arts degree opens doors for mature student Jerry Eiswerth
When he arrived at Simon Fraser University (SFU) as an undergraduate student, Jerry Eiswerth was 30 years old and had been working as an electrician for years.
Initially after finishing high school, Eiswerth had no interest in attending university. “I was a very poor student,” he remembers. “I failed Math 11, failed science, and barely passed English 12.”
“Back then I was more interested in having fun,” Eiswerth says. Eager to make money, he worked in sales and then got into the trades. He got his electrical ticket and started working as an electrician. For a while this was enough for him.
Eventually, though, Eiswerth realized he was ready for a challenge. “I wanted to do something that mattered to me, that had an impact,” he says.
His spouse was pursuing research as a graduate student in criminology at SFU and Eiswerth saw how passionate she was about her work. She encouraged him to go back to school. “She saw in me something I was unable to see,” he says.
Because he did not meet the requirements for college admission, he had to upgrade by enrolling in an online high school math course. To his surprise, he did well.
This initial success allowed him to sign up for courses at Douglas College, where he surprised himself again by getting straight A’s for two semesters. “I realized it’s not about how smart you are,” he says, “it’s about your mindset, about whether it’s the right time for you.”
Looking back, Eiswerth attributes his poor academic performance in high school to a lack of interest and not seeing the value of what he was learning.
The courses Eiswerth took at Douglas College taught him how to write and how to study, so when he transferred to SFU after two terms, he was well prepared and earned an A+ in Calculus I.
“I realized it’s not about how smart you are,” he says, “it’s about your mindset, about whether it’s the right time for you.”
“I came to SFU to explore different disciplines and figure out what I wanted to do,” Eiswerth says. Initially economics was not on his list because he thought it focused only on banking and finance, which did not interest him. However, the content in ECON 103 and ECON 105 showed him that economics is actually about how people make choices.
Eiswerth was hooked and he declared his economics major. “I’m lucky that the faculty here is fantastic,” Eiswerth said.
Taking ECON 104: Economics and Government with Krishna Pendakur was a turning point for Eiswerth. “Dr. Pendakur talked about how a simple policy change halved child poverty rates in Canada,” Eiswerth says. “That’s when I realized that you can use the tools of economics to make people’s lives better.” Pendakur took Eiswerth on as a research assistant, to work on a project exploring how interethnic marriage patterns have changed over time in Canada.
Becoming a full-time student after working and making money was not without drawbacks. Eiswerth had to give up his trades job and pay for tuition. He says it is a struggle sometimes to find balance between studying and having a personal life. “When you’re in school, your mind is always on,” he says. “You’re always thinking about the things you have to do.”
“School has given me an opportunity to become the person that I want to be."
Still, he sees this hard work as an investment in his future. He says, “School has given me an opportunity to become the person that I want to be. I came here to learn, but I didn’t realize how much I would change as a person from my experiences.”
Eiswerth’s hard work at SFU has earned him a 2024 Undergraduate Dean’s Convocation Medal as well as two departmental awards: one for the highest CGPA in the economics major and one for the best essay in the honours thesis course. He received offers from several graduate programs and will start his Master’s program in economics at the University of British Columbia. He hopes to pursue a PhD with research focused on poverty and inequality.
Eiswerth appreciates every bit of extra help and advice he’s received during his time at SFU. He wants to thank his partner Jen-Li Shen for challenging him and sacrificing so much so he could do this, economics advisor Azam Bhatti who has been in his corner from the beginning, and the faculty members who have supported him along the way, particularly Krishna Pendakur, Gordon Myers, Dongwoo Kim, Thomas Vigié, and Fernando Aragon.
“I have zero regrets,” Eiswerth says about his decision to return to school. He plans to enjoy some time off this summer with his newborn baby before resuming his studies in the fall.