Bachelor of General Studies graduating student Fareed Baksh’s story is unfortunately all too common.
After dedicating 30 years of his life to a career as a creative director and graphic designer, new management arrived and Baksh found himself for the first time in decades wondering what his next step would be.
Instead of despairing, Baksh used this radical change in his life as an opportunity.
“I hit the pause button on my education 30 years ago. Losing my job in 2024 actually allowed me to hit the ‘play’ button again,” said Baksh, who will be the Student Speaker at the University College Graduation Ceremony on May 8 where he and his fellow students in the fourth cohort of Bachelor of General Studies (BGS) program will complete a goal that for many of them was years in the making. “I believe things happen at the appointed time for a reason — when one door closes, another opens. I always wanted to finish my degree so the timing of discovering Temple’s Bachelor of General Studies program was uncanny.”
Discovering that all of his credits from his first time at Temple as a graphic design major in the 1990s would transfer, “I said let’s make this happen,” according to Baksh.
“When I first went to college, I really didn’t take my opportunity seriously and I wasn’t going to make that mistake again. One of the reasons I decided to return to the classroom was that I had this overarching feeling that I had left something undone — in the last 30 years, there hasn’t been a week that went by that I have not thought about finishing what I started,” he said. “Education is a very important facet to my family across the generations. On my mother’s (Jean Dolores Baksh) headstone it reads ‘Scientia Potentia Est’ — knowledge is power; she was a huge advocate for education and that has stayed with me throughout my life.”
Not having the degree, Baksh said, “I felt in one way or another it has held me back from my ultimate potential or my ultimate achievements.”
“I kept hitting the paper ceiling — I had the qualifications, a great resumé, an extensive portfolio and job experience, but I didn’t have that degree hanging on my wall. Coming back to the classroom after 30 years, a lot has changed,” he said. “I decided to use the practical, deadline-driven experience I had and combine it with the resources available at Temple — I have a standing tutor appointment at the Charle Library, I’m a fixture around there. The BGS community and the support that has been made available to me, it’s just unbelievable.”
According to Baksh, with the way technology is an integral part of the BGS program, “I was worried it would be a very sterile environment.”
“The BGS program does a wonderful job of bridging the gap and humanizing every aspect of the program and that is a sentiment shared by a lot of my fellow students. They know and care about my story, my journey and they know what will work to help me get to the next step — that’s their goal as much as it is mine,” he said. “I think what makes the BGS program unique is that program has students that cover the whole gamut of the Temple community. There are adult learners like me but there are also more traditional-aged students; we’re all learning together and learning from each other — all of our circumstances led to the same goal and the same place.”
Baksh said since his original point of contact — Eric Sphar, Assistant Director or Enrollment & Student Services at Temple Ambler — “I’ve discovered a community where there is 100 percent of the same sentiment echoed.”
“Every person that I’ve talked to at Temple says the same thing — they love it, and they are so focused on the success of the students. And that got me thinking that maybe completing this degree program is a chapter in the story and not the end,” he said. “Maybe I’d like to continue and pursue a master’s degree. There is so much I have left to explore and discover about life after the BGS program. I think I’d like to find a career where I am interacting with and helping people — working with nonprofits or marginalized communities — something where I can truly make a difference.”
Life, Baksh said, “doesn’t shelf what you have learned and what you have experienced, but it does redeploy it.”
“The BGS staff and the students, once they learned about my situation and the path that I was on after all of these years, they’ve been so understanding and so helpful about assisting me with bridging the gap of technology from then and now and learning how to decode academic journals and how to apply what you're reading to a well thought out thesis and abstract,” he said. “I love that fact that the BGS program has such a diverse range of possible classes you can take — that alone is a great support system for returning students because it helps you become a well-rounded person.”
A staunch advocate for giving back and volunteerism, Baksh has dedicated time to community organizations such as Chosen 300 and FAST (Families and Schools Together) in Philadelphia.
“It’s a very humbling experience to make you realize that no matter where you are in life, how much you can offer really depends on what is in your heart. There is always something that you have to give and share with somebody,” he said. “Returning to school and now being asked to be the student speaker at our graduation ceremony, these have been chances to step outside of my comfort zone — after working at the same place for 30 years, it’s easy to get comfortable. I has forced me to grow because I can tell you that the person that I was a year ago would not have stepped up to do this speech.”
Baksh said that the students in these early years of the Bachelor of General Studies program “are trailblazers helping to shape the foundation of the program.”
“It is exciting to help lay the groundwork of historical achievement that countless others will follow in the years so come. All of our hard work — those late nights at the library, last-minute assignment uploads, missing out on concert tickets or seeing our kids’ school play and every other sacrifice that we’ve made over the years has paid off. I know my mom is smiling while watching all of this in heaven and cheering me on.”
Baksh is quick to point out all of the people that helped him get to this point.
“My wife Sandy is my partner, my best friend in life, my biggest cheerleader, my everything — she keeps me honest. My dad Ashraf, who also goes by Benny, and my mom in heaven,” he said. “My older brother Omar and younger brother Sharief; the staff at Temple’s BGS program with all of the teachers, advisors and my student tutor, Lucy; my good friends Devon and Dan; and my extended family, sisters-in-law Debbie and Jean. That’s my support system — this day doesn’t happen without them.”
The Bachelor of General Studies is designed for learners with prior college and at least sixty transferable credits who are ready to complete their undergraduate degree. The 120-credit bachelor’s program focuses on creating a solid foundation for a wide variety of careers and it allows students the opportunity to customize their degree path. Learn more about the Bachelor of General Studies here.