WestConn Education Is A Family Affair

Western Connecticut State University senior Matthew LaPak will be ready to follow in his father’s footsteps in the information technology (IT) field when he graduates in May from the Ancell School of Business.

But it is Matt’s father, Dennis, who has followed in his son’s footsteps in pursuit of a bachelor degree in management information systems (MIS) at WestConn.

Seated at the kitchen table in his Newtown home recently, Dennis recalled the long road to a bachelor degree.

“My life at WestConn started in 1976, but I only went for a year before I took some time off to sort things out. Then I went to Norwalk State Technical College and got an associates degree in 1980,” he said.

Mr LaPak was married soon after, and with his wife Maureen began a family that includes Matt, now 22; Tim, 21; Tucker, 16,and Molly, 8. For 25 years, he has had a successful IT career, serving since 2000 as IT manager at Partner Reinsurance Company of the US in Greenwich.

In 2001, Matt enrolled at WestConn to begin his undergraduate studies, and the following year Dennis decided to finish what he began so long ago.

“Three years ago, I finally decided for my own personal fulfillment to finish my bachelor’s degree,” said the senior Mr LaPak. “This time around, I’m more mature. I have 20-plus years of work experience, and it definitely makes it mean more than when I was 18 or 19 years old.”

Returning to school has posed a formidable challenge for the elder LaPak, who maintains a fulltime job that demands long hours and overseas travel.

“I work 50 hours a week and I have to travel to Switzerland periodically, so I have to coordinate everything and get my papers in on time,” he said.

Mr LaPak said he applies on the job experience to classroom tasks such as his recent role as group leader on a team project in his Fundamentals of Data Communication course. “It’s so much easier to do a paper or classroom assignment if you can relate it to something in real life,” he said. “At the same time, I’m already integrating my course work into what I’m doing on the job,” he stated.

While Dennis returned to WestConn with a clear objective of completing a business administration degree with an MIS as his major, Matt took several semesters before he settled on the same degree goal. The younger LaPak said his turning point came when he took assistant professor of management Dr Richard Bassett’s Information Systems Concepts course.

“I liked it and just stuck with it. I felt it was good to know about business and computers and thought I could apply it to finance, marketing and other things,” Matt said.

Both father and son cited Dr Richard Montague, professor and chair of the MIS department, as one of their best and most challenging teachers.

“As painful as it was, Dr Montague’s class has definitely helped me with systems analysis work, so I’ve already put that to use,” Mr LaPak said.

Because Dennis takes classes in the evening, father and son rarely cross paths on the university’s westside campus, though Matt conceded his father has helped him with some difficult assignments.

This spring the LaPak family will be preparing to celebrate one WestConn graduation and looking forward to another several years down the road.

“My son will graduate in the spring,” said Dennis. “I have seven or eight classes left to take, and I hope to graduate before I have grandkids.”