Johnny Jiminez decided to come back to school so he could get a better job.

Jiminez, 28, Board of Trustees general studies major, has been taking the classes through Eastern’s continuing education department in Chicago.

Living in Chicago and attending Eastern could present problems, but according to Jiminez, the teachers come to them.

“Teachers from Eastern actually come to us,” Jiminez said. “The school sent three teachers to teach three classes on Fridays and Saturdays at the local community college for about five weeks. It’s kinda nice being face to face with the teachers instead of doing everything online.”

He was one of the students of ages ranging from mid-twenties to later sixties were present on Friday and Saturday for the annual Adult/Commuter Student Conference held in the Martin Luther King Jr. University Union and Booth Library.

The Adult/Commuter Student Conference gave college credit for all-day seminars and classes relating to what it takes to return or go to college.

Jiminez decided to attend the conference after he received a pamphlet in the mail.

Robert Miller, 45, of Chicago, is also coming back to school for a Board of Trustees general studies major. He agrees with Jiminez saying that the reason he came back to college was “to pursue better job opportunities at work.”

When asked how it felt to be coming back to college at an older age, Miller smiled and said he thought that there was nothing wrong with going back to school. He is doing it to better his life and career.

It’s not necessarily normal, but as long as it benefits him, he does not see anything wrong with it.

Miller is also in the school of continuing education and attends classes with Jiminez in Chicago. He heard about the conference through an email and decided to come.

The Adult/Commuter Student Conference was the brainchild of Audrey Bachelder, an academic adviser for bachelor’s in general studies in the School of Continuing Education. It was her idea for the continuing education students who take classes off campus to meet other adult students, meet Eastern professors and see the campus, said community counseling graduate assistant Susan Bulla. Together with William Hine, dean of the bachelor of general studies department, she started the process that would become a conference directed toward non-traditional students.

Studies done by the university show non-traditional students get better grades and manage challenges better than traditional students.

Bulla thinks that the difference comes because of a different look at education.

“Non-traditional students know it’s a privilege to go to college,” said Bulla. “If a teacher lets them out early they complain they are not getting their money’s worth. They want to learn!”

The actual conference consisted of 32 students, which according to Felix Brunkhorst, a graduate student in business administration who helped set up the conference, was a 20 percent increase from last year.

“The conference is directed towards people who haven’t gone to school in a while and want to start again or just people who want to continue learning,” said Brunkhorst. It is good to see more and more people wanting to come.

The conference started Friday evening with a four-hour lecture in the Arcola/ Tuscola Room. Commuter students who traveled a far distance were housed in various rooms in Lincoln, Stevenson, Douglas residence halls. On Saturday, the students started an all-day itinerary which included classroom discussions about online classes vs. face to face classes, seminars catering prospective students, students who are thinking about taking classes at Eastern through the School of Continuing Education, such as application processes and the in’s and out’s of financial aid, seminars catering to current students such as graduate school information and study skills, and seminars at Booth Library including how to use WebCT and an introduction to research. The conference started Friday evening with a four-hour lecture in the Arcola/ Tuscola Room. Commuter students who traveled a far distance were housed in various rooms in Lincoln, Stevenson, Douglas residence halls. On Saturday, the students started an all-day itinerary which included classroom discussions about online classes vs. face to face classes, seminars catering prospective students, students who are thinking about taking classes at Eastern through the School of Continuing Education, such as application processes and the in’s and out’s of financial aid, seminars catering to current students such as graduate school information and study skills, and seminars at Booth Library including how to use WebCT and an introduction to research.