Fatherhood Agrees with Non-traditional Student Eli Feathers

11/14/2016 

Eli Feathers juggles the everyday trials of being a father to four youngsters with a driving ambition to enter the field of physical therapy.

That combination led Feathers, 35, a senior exercise science major, to become one of hundreds of non-traditional students enrolled at SUNY Cortland.

“One thing that I find interesting about nontraditional students, we seem to be more vocal,” said Feathers, who is currently the vice president of the College’s Nontraditional Student Organization. “I guess that it helps being a father of four little runts.”

Eli Feathers and his wife, Jessica, enjoy Easter with their children and stepchildren. With them, from the left, are their stepdaughter Lucianna, 5, son Payton, 11, stepson Grayson (in front), 4, and daughter Raleigh, 5.

While his wife, Jessica, commutes for work to and from Syracuse, N.Y., Feathers cares for the children and a wide assortment of family pets on the homestead in Truxton, N.Y. On any given weeknight the father of 11-year-old Payton and 5-year-old Luciana and foster dad of 5-year-old Rileigh and 4-year-old Grayson meets a succession of buses dropping off returning members of his brood. He also prepares a dinner for the whole family and then chauffeurs youngsters to dance lessons or sports practice.

He is convinced this double life actually improves his performance in the classroom and around campus.

“Aside from me being able to use my vocal chords, my time management skills couldn’t be sharper,” Feathers said. “Maybe this has more to do with me having a family as anything.”

Nearing the end of his second full year at SUNY Cortland, Feathers this fall undertook a year of independent research/research methods with two kinesiology professors, Erik Lind and James Hokanson.

“The Kinesiology department has been fantastic,” Feathers said. “I did not have a ton of questions about how to meet my goals, but when I did, they were super approachable and helped me find the answer.”

Feathers will earn a bachelor of science in four years. He planned his academic path carefully while earning 63 credits at Onondaga Community College before transferring to SUNY Cortland. Here, he carries an 18 credit course-load some semesters and has taken summer classes.

About a week after graduating from SUNY Cortland, Feathers will move to Philadelphia, Pa., to begin a Doctor of Physical Therapy with a dual degree of Masters in Public Health at Arcadia University.

He’ll be a weekend daddy for two-and-a-half years before reaching his ultimate goal: to help people recover their physical capabilities following serious brain or spinal injuries.

“My particular interest is rehabilitative,” Feathers said. “I want to do spinal chord injury, neurological type work with people who never thought they could walk again. For example, helping people who are re-associating with a limb that is in shock after surgery.”

Feathers also is interested in policy work, research and maybe teaching in his field.

“That specific degree is a tale of two cities: one-on-one with patients and community health,” Feathers said. “To be honest, I’ll probably end up somewhere in the middle.”

Growing up in Piney Bluffs, eastern Tennessee, Feathers’ father and sister set the example as non-traditional college graduates. His father moved from military service to electrical engineering and his sister entered social work later in life. Feathers excelled but after high school he couldn’t decide what to do.

“I didn’t want to end up having a degree in a field that wouldn’t serve,” he said. “And college wasn’t cheap.”

He worked in the restaurant industry until he met his wife in 2003. They moved to Syracuse and he tried home remodeling and then warehousing.

“Until I said, ‘It’s time to go back to school,’” he said.

“Life isn’t a straight line, it’s a highway or it’s a country back road,” he observed. “Sometimes you take the easy road, just go with the flow, and sometimes you aren’t well served.”

Feathers is another reason why SUNY Cortland recognizes and celebrates these dedicated students during Non-Trad Week, which started on Veteran’s Day, Nov. 11, and runs through Friday, Nov. 18, according to Cheryl Hines, coordinator of student outreach and non-traditional student support.

Nationally, non-trads are defined as students older than 23, students raising children, students working full time, students with prior military experience or students who have an interruption in their education. And they make up an increasingly large segment of campus populations. These students often take unique paths to realize their academic goals and achieve their degrees after overcoming obstacles that traditional, right-out-of-high-school students don’t usually face.

Non-Trad Week events include family activities, a specially tailored scholarship session, a free taco bar and a “Non-Trads Rock” T-shirt day, when anyone spotted wearing that signature shirt will win a prize. A full list of activities is available.

The College will be publicly recognizing notable non-trads throughout the week, Hines said. You can nominate someone for recognition.