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Fawne and Candice Heilman

Mother and Daughter Graduate Together, Friday, June 10, 2005

Sometimes it’s not so important when you start a journey but when you finish it.

Candice Heilman of Tiffin started taking classes at Terra Community College in 1980 after she graduated from Old Fort High School. Her daughter, Fawne, who was born four years later, came to Terra in 2003. On June 10, they will both become members of the class of 2005.

“It’s cool. The whole family is coming for both of us. And I’m pretty proud of her,” Fawne Heilman said, nodding toward her mother.

When she realized that it would be close, Fawne said she took two 20+ credit-hour quarters to finish with her mother.

The two are hoping to sit together and have their names called in succession. And there will undoubtedly be lots of cameras flashing.

Candice Heilman said she has taken classes in law enforcement, early childhood education and even real estate at Terra. But she finally settled on an area that was fairly foreign to her. She will receive an Associate of Applied Science in Graphics. 

“Three years ago, I had never turned a computer on,” she said. “When I first came back, I did not want to go back to school. Mr. (Bob) Jones (retired graphics instructor) really took me under his wing and pushed me along.”

And being with younger students was beneficial as well.

“They are so much into the computer thing,” Candice Heilman said of her young peers. “I wouldn’t have made it through without some of those kids.”

She said her daughter helped, too.

“But now she’s gotten beyond anything I know on the computer,” Fawne said.

Fawne will receive an Associate of Arts in Social and Behavioral Sciences. She has been accepted to start next fall at The Ohio State University where she will major in psychology. But Terra has been a great start.

“I wasn’t ready to go full into the workforce, and I didn’t know what I wanted to do,” the 2003 Tiffin Columbian grad said. “I thought I would go to Terra and figure it out.

“If I had started somewhere else in a class with hundreds of students, I think I would have quit. I’m more inspired now. I had a couple of very good psychology teachers and so I’ve learned to care about that.”

The Heilmans will be two of approximately 250 graduates at the Terra commencement which begins at 7 p.m. June 10 in the Student Activities Center. State Rep. Chris Redfern (D-Catawba Island) will be the featured speaker.