When the oldest of Derek Benson’s three children was 13, he struck a deal – if all of them went to college, he’d go back and finish his higher education degree. Well, all three kids did go to college, and Benson, true to his word and 13 years later, recently earned his associate’s degree in general education from Salt Lake Community College.
“They’re trying to talk me into keeping on going,” Benson said while waiting to walk across the stage during SLCC Commencement Day at the Maverik Center in West Valley City on May 6. “We’ll see,” he added.
Benson, 51, lives in Sandy, works for Yellow Freight Trucking and has been married to the same woman, Kayla, for 27 years. Sports is big enough in their house that they named their children after famous sports heroes. But academics is kind of overshadowing athletics these days.
Ryzen, 26, graduated from Westminster College and is pursuing a PhD in bioinformatics at the University of Utah – and his wife, Nicole, a 2021 U of U grad, even got in the game and helped her father-in-law with homework on occasion. Hunter, 24, also graduated from Westminster, and now she’s studying public health while on scholarship at Columbia University. Trajan, 21, followed his father’s playbook and started at SLCC, then ended up in San Diego and is currently taking a break from school.
Benson wore two blue graduation stoles (Trajan couldn’t make it to see Dad walk) that he gave to his two oldest, who he credits with his success at SLCC. “I would have never got it done without them,” he said. Referring to himself as “computer stupid,” Benson noted, “They helped me with a lot of stuff.” He even gets a little choked up talking about it all, but notes the emotion is about his kids. “I’m more proud of what they’ve done,” he said. “They’re doing big things.”
With Hunter moving out, the Bensons are becoming empty nesters, and now Kayla is thinking about finishing her college degree. “She tells me every day about how proud she is of me,” he said. “She’s kind of the rock – she keeps everything going.” SLCC may not have seen the last of the Bensons.
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