May 12—When Monica Slate studied accounting for a business degree at Mount St. Mary's University in the fall of 2020, she sometimes texted her son, Nicholas Brody, for help.
Brody had taken an accounting course online that spring, and, like his mom, was a business major.
"He can do math in his head," Slate said in a phone interview. "He knew what he was doing."
They are scheduled to graduate together on Saturday — a day before Mother's Day.
Slate finished her classes in December. Brody's classes ended this month.
Slate, a senior manager of strategic programs and operations at the Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research, which is operated by Leidos Biomedical Research, said her son's journey to start college in 2019 inspired her to go back to school.
"What really solidified it for me was: How can I preach to him to go, how important college is, when I didn't even finish?" Slate said.
"I felt as a parent that I needed to ... set an example, and go back, get my education, and show him that this is so important that I am even going back to school. So, at the end of the day, as much as I did it for myself, I would say ... I did it for him," she added.
Slate, 48, began working at the lab in 2001.
Slate began as a clerk, then became an executive assistant, and later moved into a position that involved making connections with academic institutions, Mary Ellen Hackett, a manager for public affairs and communication for the Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research, wrote in an email.
Through that role, Slate met Jennifer Staiger, an associate provost at Mount St. Mary's, and Andi Overton, a former director of business development at the Frederick campus.
Staiger and Overton, beginning in 2018 or so, began to encourage her to go back to school. She also learned about the partnership between the lab and Mount St. Mary's.
Employees of the lab can obtain a tuition reimbursement for up to two classes per term, Anne Gill, an employee communications specialist at the lab, wrote in an email.
"That is one of the things that made it possible for me to go to school," Slate said.
Brody, 21, chose Mount St. Mary's because it felt like a "small community of people that were all friendly towards each other," he said.
Brody primarily took classes on Mount St. Mary's main campus in Emmitsburg.
Slate was enrolled in the adult accelerated program at the campus in Frederick, which offers classes in shorter five- or eight-week sessions.
Slate said she took one class per term when classes were in person.