![]() ![]() "She worked so incredibly hard it's crazy," Hunter Wetzel said of his mother.įor Couts, the experience of working alongside her son has opened her eyes to different ways of working and to "maybe just enjoying it a little bit more and not being so serious about everything."Īs for the future, Hunter Wetzel plans on following one of his siblings into the video game industry with his development company Runstar, which he started with childhood friends.Īnd Couts is not stopping at a bachelor's degree - she will be pursuing her doctorate in higher education and student development and plans to focus on helping nontraditional students like herself. "Every time I came home for a family dinner, these two were reading each other's papers and I couldn't talk to them for 30 minutes until they were done," Wetzel's sibling Karlee remembered. "'I'm going to be with my friends for the most part.'"īut the mother and son found each other as valuable study buddies, looking over each other's assignments and giving feedback. "The main thing was, I was like, 'Mom, I'm going to need space,'" Wetzel said. She selected UC Irvine to avoid a long commute from her home in Rancho Santa Margarita but first got permission from her son. When it came time to apply to transfer schools, Couts selected Cal State Fullerton, UC San Diego, where she was offered a full-ride scholarship, and UC Irvine. ![]() Shortly before Wetzel started at UC Irvine, Couts began taking classes at Saddleback College after a nearly two-decade break. ![]() Mom cannot come to college."īut it was Wetzel's entrance into college that spurred Couts to reenter academia and chase the goal of a college degree. "As a freshman, it would have been a hard no," Couts said, laughing. Couts began attending the university when Hunter was a junior. She never cramped my style, he said, although he acknowledged that had his mom started UC Irvine when he was a freshman he might have felt different. "I would say I'm impressed, but it's 100% expected," Wetzel said. "And this whole thing has taught me that she actually gets both."īut Couts' penchant for academics did not surprise Wetzel. "I just always thought she was very like right-brained - really emotional, really empathetic, good at problem-solving, that sort of thing. "I'm just trying to be a little bit in the moment right now," she said.įor some, the idea of attending college with a parent might be terrifying - an encroachment on the freedom college often represents.īut for Wetzel, the experience was rewarding. Wetzel received his bachelor's degree in anthropology on the same day from the university.Ĭouts said the experience of graduating alongside her son was surreal. She also received a host of awards and honors, including the Chancellor's Award, the Schonfeld Scholar Award and the UCI Alumni Assn.’s Distinguished Anteater Award. (Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times)įaith Couts always dreamed of pursuing a college degree, but "the timing was never right."Ĭouts, 50, had her first child during her senior year in high school and enrolled in community college in Las Vegas.īut being a single parent was "overwhelming" and college faded out of the picture as Couts worked to support her growing family, which includes her son, Hunter Wetzel, 22.īut on Friday, Couts finally realized her dream and received her bachelor's degree in social policy and public service from the UC Irvine's School of Social Sciences. Couts received a degree in social policy and public service and Wetzel a degree in anthropology. Faith Couts, 50, left, and son Hunter Wetzel, 22, both of Rancho Santa Margarita, graduate together during a ceremony held at the Donald Bren Center on the campus of the University of California, Irvine on Friday.
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