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Kristi Woods, 28, owns her own business and raises her son, Tyler Degraffenreed, 9, and she is studying civil engineering. She and Tyler are pictured above with their cat, Yoda.
Kristi Woods’ 9-year-old son sat quietly for a photo Thursday afternoon, but once it was done he was off.
“Can I go play football now, Mom?” Tyler Degraffenreed asked, already halfway out the door to meet friends waiting outside.
Weekdays at Woods’ apartment are a flurry of activity between her fourth-grader and her house-cleaning business.
And in two weeks the level of hectic will move a notch higher.
The 28-year-old will be heading off to class beginning Sept. 29 in the mornings, too, pursuing an associate degree in civil engineering at Umpqua Community College.
“It’s a mad rush to get my son ready for school, get myself ready, get to class, get to work and then finding time to study, too,” Woods said.
Woods took a stab at the paramedics program at UCC about four years ago, but it didn’t work out. Then cleaning houses became her full-time business two years ago.
But the economic slowdown hit her business, too. When her mother, Toni Woods, mentioned civil engineering she looked into it, and it fit.
Toni Woods said her daughter doesn’t like the backstabbing and small talk that can plague some work environments, preferring the outdoors and working with her hands to offices — in high school she got some state championship welding awards and did some auto mechanic work, too.
“Kristi tried the EMT and did a stint firefighting with the Forest Service,” Toni Woods said. “But she struggled to find her niche.”
After high school, Woods said she had “very much intended to go to college.”
But a marriage, a baby, then a divorce and Woods’ determination to not place Tyler in day care made the search for that niche a little more challenging.
Part-time jobs and her parents help make things a bit easier, and cleaning houses offered an easier way for Woods to keep Tyler with her.
“He loved cleaning windows — that was his thing,” she said, but added the tasks that entertained Tyler when he was 3 didn’t capture his attention as much at 9.
Woods’ new course and courses are divinely inspired, she said.
“God put this package together,” she said. “This is the next thing, and this is without a doubt where I’m supposed to be.”
After talking with the instructors at UCC, Woods found the combination of drawing and working outside, building anything from bridges to waterways, was right up her alley.
The degree comes with a heavy dose of mathematics courses and AutoCAD, a design and draftwork computer program.
“It sounds like a lot of fun,” Woods said. “And there’s so many (job) opportunities, which was another reason for this choice.”
Woods’ first round of courses this summer concluded with a 4.0 grade point average that she’s looking to keep again this fall, but the time crunch will be a bigger factor not only with her and Tyler’s schedule, but also working as much as possible.
A few scholarships and some financial aid will make that an easier task, and Woods is still all smiles and determined when she talks about the upcoming juggling act — something that’s characteristically her, according to Toni Woods.
“She is very headstrong when she decides she wants to do something — she goes for it and accomplishes it,” Toni Woods said.
Though both mother and daughter hope the little family stays in the Roseburg area after she graduates, Woods says she’ll stay flexible.
“I don’t know where I’m going to be (after graduating),” she said Thursday. “Wherever life takes me, that’s where I’m willing to go.”
• You can reach reporter DD Bixby at 957-4211 or by e-mail at dbixby@nrtoday.com.
“Can I go play football now, Mom?” Tyler Degraffenreed asked, already halfway out the door to meet friends waiting outside.
Weekdays at Woods’ apartment are a flurry of activity between her fourth-grader and her house-cleaning business.
And in two weeks the level of hectic will move a notch higher.
The 28-year-old will be heading off to class beginning Sept. 29 in the mornings, too, pursuing an associate degree in civil engineering at Umpqua Community College.
“It’s a mad rush to get my son ready for school, get myself ready, get to class, get to work and then finding time to study, too,” Woods said.
Woods took a stab at the paramedics program at UCC about four years ago, but it didn’t work out. Then cleaning houses became her full-time business two years ago.
But the economic slowdown hit her business, too. When her mother, Toni Woods, mentioned civil engineering she looked into it, and it fit.
Toni Woods said her daughter doesn’t like the backstabbing and small talk that can plague some work environments, preferring the outdoors and working with her hands to offices — in high school she got some state championship welding awards and did some auto mechanic work, too.
“Kristi tried the EMT and did a stint firefighting with the Forest Service,” Toni Woods said. “But she struggled to find her niche.”
After high school, Woods said she had “very much intended to go to college.”
But a marriage, a baby, then a divorce and Woods’ determination to not place Tyler in day care made the search for that niche a little more challenging.
Part-time jobs and her parents help make things a bit easier, and cleaning houses offered an easier way for Woods to keep Tyler with her.
“He loved cleaning windows — that was his thing,” she said, but added the tasks that entertained Tyler when he was 3 didn’t capture his attention as much at 9.
Woods’ new course and courses are divinely inspired, she said.
“God put this package together,” she said. “This is the next thing, and this is without a doubt where I’m supposed to be.”
After talking with the instructors at UCC, Woods found the combination of drawing and working outside, building anything from bridges to waterways, was right up her alley.
The degree comes with a heavy dose of mathematics courses and AutoCAD, a design and draftwork computer program.
“It sounds like a lot of fun,” Woods said. “And there’s so many (job) opportunities, which was another reason for this choice.”
Woods’ first round of courses this summer concluded with a 4.0 grade point average that she’s looking to keep again this fall, but the time crunch will be a bigger factor not only with her and Tyler’s schedule, but also working as much as possible.
A few scholarships and some financial aid will make that an easier task, and Woods is still all smiles and determined when she talks about the upcoming juggling act — something that’s characteristically her, according to Toni Woods.
“She is very headstrong when she decides she wants to do something — she goes for it and accomplishes it,” Toni Woods said.
Though both mother and daughter hope the little family stays in the Roseburg area after she graduates, Woods says she’ll stay flexible.
“I don’t know where I’m going to be (after graduating),” she said Thursday. “Wherever life takes me, that’s where I’m willing to go.”
• You can reach reporter DD Bixby at 957-4211 or by e-mail at dbixby@nrtoday.com.
