While touring another campus where he was considering attending a doctoral program, Cody Nygard was jokingly told by faculty that most of the married Ph.D. students ended up divorcing at some point in the program.
That didn’t sit well with Cody or with his wife, Erika Nygard, who wanted to go through a Ph.D. program together. “We quickly realized that program would not be a good fit for us,” Erika said.
A program at Bellarmine University did fit the bill.
"Bellarmine embraced the idea of us completing this journey together.”
“I chose to enroll in the Ph.D. in Education & Social Change program specifically because it was a program that my wife and I could do together,” Cody Nygard said. “Education & Social Change fit both of our interests and the trajectory we had envisioned our career going in.”
“We found Bellarmine, and fell absolutely in love,” Erika said. “It was the perfect dovetail of both of our interests. They embraced the idea of us completing this journey together.”
Cody was grateful for the flexibility their new school offered them. “Bellarmine took a chance on us, I have come to understand, by allowing us to begin as the first part-time students in the Ph.D. in Education & Social Change program,” he said. Enrolling part-time, helped the Nygards balance their work, life and education. “We were able to better find a groove for our growing family to fit into by starting a little slower, and still maintaining full-time jobs.”
“When we started, we didn’t have any children,” Erika added. “By the time we graduated, we had three! We were careful not to overcommit with coursework so that we could have the time to spend with our little ones.”
After the birth of their second child, the Nygards switched to full-time student status. “Again, Bellarmine's flexibility in allowing us to do so helped immensely,” Cody said. “We were supported by staff and faculty all along the way as our family grew, our careers changed, and our research interests solidified.”
While the Nygards took many courses together, that was not the advantage peers may have believed it to be. “Others generally assume that going through a Ph.D. program with your spouse makes it easier somehow,” Cody said. “We often heard things like, ‘So you've already read each other's paper…’ or ‘Group work must have been a breeze since you two live together.’ But that was not really our experience. Oftentimes we'd end up in different groups from one another, and we never really had time to review or critique each other's work before the submission dates.”
“As much as we could, we tried to take the same classes,” Erika said, “and while our research interests were different, it was helpful just to have someone going through the journey with you. By the time we got to dissertation, we took turns. I was pregnant with our third child, so I went first! The very next semester, Cody was able to defend. By doing that, each of us was able to focus on our research while the other parent was juggling the babies!”
Erika is proud of all that she and Cody experienced and accomplished in the Ph.D. program. “What I loved about Bellarmine was that we could create paths that would prepare us for our future,” she said. “I truly believe that I would not be who I am today without the support and guidance from the faculty in the Education and Social Change program at Bellarmine…I feel well-poised to advance in my career because of the education I've received at Bellarmine.”
Congratulations to the Nygards and best of luck in the future!