Carl Smith is a man who believes in starting what he finishes.
But when he watched his children, grandchildren, and even his wife go off to institutions of higher learning and earn degrees that propelled their lives forward, he felt pangs of regret.
He never finished college. It’s the one project he never completed. And it didn’t sit well with the now-83-year-old. After 65 years, all that will change as he earns his degree and attends the 2026 Commencement ceremony at WVU Potomac State College.
He had every intention of finishing his education and earning his degree. He enrolled at Potomac State College (known then as Potomac State School) in 1960, right out of high school in Harman, West Virginia.
Harman is the smallest of towns in Randolph County, located in the Potomac Highlands within the Monongahela National Forest. It’s about 25 miles east of Elkins, 13 miles west of Seneca Rocks, and according to the 2024 Census, it had a population of a whopping 96 people.
It was Smith's plan to attend Potomac State, study agriculture for two years, transfer the credits to West Virginia University in Morgantown, and eventually teach.
“I was supposed to end up in Morgantown because at that time there were no two-year associate degrees at Pot State,” he said, referencing the old vernacular for the College. “But at that time, I ran out of money, to be honest.”
Smith planned to take what is referred to today as a “gap” year – when a college student takes a break to further his or her studies to either secure more finances or explore the world. The plan, however, is that when that gap year ends, the student is back on track with his or her university or college studies. Smith’s “gap” year ended up being extended for 65 years.
“When I was taking that time off to get more money to come back to college, I received my notice that I had been drafted,” he remembers. “Things in Vietnam then were starting to just heat up, and nobody knew what was going to happen.’
Smith heard that if a man was drafted but decided to enlist instead, he would be given preferential treatment when it came to where he would be stationed overseas, and so he enlisted in the Air Force and immediately left the world of agriculture to study something brand new for the military at that time – computer sciences. He thought maybe if a war did break out, he would be stationed in Iceland, Greenland, Germany, or Spain.
“I enrolled in the Air Force and started working in the computer sciences program, but then, because of the war brewing, they delayed the program for two years,” he said. “So, I ended up going to Vietnam anyway. But I did work on the computers.”
While in Vietnam, Smith said he learned conversational Vietnamese.
“And that actually saved my life a few times,” he said. “I am sure of that.’
In fact, for reprogramming communications equipment after it was under enemy fire, Smith earned a Bronze Star for his service. The Bronze Star Medal is awarded to U.S. military personnel for heroic or meritorious achievement and service in ground combat against an enemy force. The Bronze Star is awarded for displays of “heroism, valor, and meritorious service in a combat theater,” according to the Pentagon definition regarding qualifications.
After the war and now a father to two children – son, Wesley, and daughter, Becky - Smith and his family settled in Clarksburg. There, he worked 10 years as a computer engineer and programmer for Honeywell until he learned that a friend’s hardware store was for sale. Smith exchanged software for hardware and started a new chapter as an entrepreneur, and owned and operated an independent hardware store for 30 years.
Still, he remembered his time and his “unfinished business” on the campus of Potomac State.
“When I went to Potomac State, Dr. Gustafson and Mr. Malone ran the Agricultural Department then,” he said, referencing the namesakes of two of the three PSC farm properties. “I remember I lived on Main Street. This guy had a house, and he rented out the attic basically, and four of us lived there. Then, in my second year, I lived in a garage apartment real close to the farm. I just walked down to campus from there.”
Smith recalled milking the dairy cows that were on campus at that time. When he was a student here, he had his mind set on becoming a teacher.
“I really enjoyed my time in Keyser at Potomac State,” he said. “I remember the student union and the cold mornings going in there for hot chocolate. I remember taking a history course where we learned about politics, and battles, and what leads to war. And now that history comes back around, and what we thought was history then is current events now.”
But even with his Bronze Star, years of engineering accomplishments, owning his own business, and raising a family, Smith said he still felt like something in his life was incomplete.
“My wife had gone back to school, my daughter, my son, my son-in-law, even my grandchildren had all gone to college and got their degrees, or they were in college getting their degrees,” he said. “One day, I said, ‘You know, everyone here has a degree but me.’”
That’s when his daughter, Becky Besten, had an idea. She knew her father’s one regret in life was not completing his education, and so she made a few inquiries. She contacted admissions at Potomac State College.
“I wanted to see how short my dad was on his credits,” Becky said. “I thought if he was just a few credits shy, maybe he could do some online classes, and the school would let him finish.”
What Becky learned was that had an Associate’s degree been available in the early 1960s, her father, Carl, would have more than earned it. He had already completed more than enough credit hours to obtain an Associate’s degree, based on current academic standards.
“And then all the pieces just seemed to fall into place,” Becky said. “The timing was great, and then Potomac State told me the only thing Dad had to do was enroll because he needed a current student ID number in order to apply to graduate. We got him enrolled, got that number and applied for graduation just in time to meet the deadline. The College asked if he would like to walk at commencement, and I immediately said, yes, he is going to do that.”
Becky actually committed to her father’s plans for Commencement before she told him. When she presented him with a letter stating he had enough credits backlogged to now have his Associate’s Degree, she also informed him he would be attending spring Commencement activities.
On Saturday, May 9, when 152 graduates don the mortar boards and black gowns to walk the aisle at Church-McKee Arts Center to accept their earned and chosen degrees, Carl Smith – age 83, who has waited 65 years for this moment- will be among them.
“I will be in a wheelchair, and I have Parkinson’s, but I will be there to get that degree,” Smith said. “For me, education is a necessity. And getting a good education should be a part of life, like paying a utility bill. You should treat your education like an important part of your life.”
Smith said he teases his family that when he has his degree in hand, he has plans for a new career.
“I told them I was going to move back to Harman and be a teacher,” he said. “I ended up doing something completely different in my life than what I thought I would do. I came to Potomac State to study agriculture, and I ended up in the Air Force as a computer programmer and engineer. And then I ended up owning a hardware store. But what going to Potomac State did for me – and I hope people understand this – is that it set me up for an entire lifetime of learning and loving to learn.”