Every semester, thousands of adults accept the challenge to resume their college educations at Penn State. One of those adult learners, Yumi Lee, a human development and family studies major, is the 2008 recipient of the Penn State Outstanding Adult Student Award presented by the Division of Student Affairs and Penn State Outreach.

This annual award recognizes an outstanding adult learner at University Park campus who has begun or resumed their education after the age of 24, after being out of high school for four or more years, and who demonstrates initiative in overcoming obstacles to furthering their education, while serving as a role model for other adult learners, achieving academic excellence and contributing to their community.

"Yumi (Lee) is a motivated, focused and dynamic woman. I am certain that she will continue to make an impact in our community," said Leslie A. Laing, coordinator for Special Populations in the Division of Student Affairs and host of the award.

When Lee became a single mother, she realized that "going back to school was my best option to support my children." The mother of five children ages 6 to 11, Lee had never worked before, so she decided to go to college and get her undergraduate degree.

Lee chose Penn State's human development and family studies bachelor's degree program because of her interest in people. "I am a mother, and I'm concerned about our community and how we can make a difference," she said. When she graduates this summer, she hopes to become involved in social work, where she can help others, especially immigrants like her parents, who immigrated from South Korea to Colorado when Lee was 8 years old. "I grew up watching them and understanding their struggles," Lee said.

When she was in high school, Lee served as a translator for an attorney who worked with the Korean community in Boulder. "I saw how hard these immigrants worked to earn a living and how they lost it all because they did not understand American law or the language." These experiences motivated Lee to choose a career where "I have the power to help others have equal opportunities," she explained. In the future, she hopes to attend law school.

While she is on the dean's list today, it has been a struggle for Lee, who has a learning disability that was only recently diagnosed. To keep up with her course work, she spends three to four hours studying nightly, after her children go to bed. During the day, she attends classes and handles the typical duties of motherhood. "I get about five hours of sleep a night," she admits.

"My older children understand what going to college means to me and what I'm trying to do,' Lee, a State College resident, said. "They are all proud of me."

As part of her education, Lee spends time in an internship program with Penn State Extension that she created to focus on an issue she is passionate about: helping the international community in Centre County. Working with Extension and several local organizations, Lee has successfully obtained grant funding to develop an information packet that explains to members of the international community how to access community services. In addition, Lee, who speaks three languages, including Japanese, is a volunteer translator for Global Connections, a community nonprofit organization affiliated with Penn State and the Centre County United Way. Lee also is a member of Kappa Omicron Nu Honor Society for leaders in family and consumer sciences and has twice received Penn State's Academic Achievement Scholarship Award.

"Yumi Lee has exceled in managing her multiple roles to pursue her education goal and her long-term dream of helping others," said Jean McGrath-Bauer, senior director of Adult Learner Services, a unit of Outreach's Continuing and Distance Education.

Penn State Division of Student Affairs provides programs and services designed to foster a more positive learning environment and to improve the learning readiness of students. Division departments provide direct services for students seeking counseling, health care, career assistance, student activities, conflict resolution and residence life services. For more information, visit http://www.sa.psu.edu/ online.

Penn State Outreach is the largest unified outreach organization in American higher education, serving more than 5 million people each year and delivering more than 2,000 programs to people in all 67 Pennsylvania counties, all 50 states and 80 countries worldwide. For more information, visit http://www.outreach.psu.edu online.