LEWISTON — At 18, Tina Howe graduated from high school, moved out on her own, enrolled at the University of Southern Maine, and after a semester, flunked out.

“I didn’t take it seriously,” she said. “I wasn’t ready, and a lot of students just coming out of high school aren’t ready. So I spent a few years just having fun and doing my own thing.”

At 21, pregnant with her daughter, Howe headed back to campus.

“That’s when it really hit me,” she said. “I realized, if I was going to get anywhere in life and be able to provide for my child, then I really needed to kind of get some education.”

It took eight years. One more child and a credit transfer later, she earned her bachelor’s degree — and then went after her master’s degree.

Today, Howe is back at USM, this time on the other side of the desk. Part of her job as an enrollment counselor: convincing adults who’ve started and stopped that college is worth another shot.

She’s specifically targeting local businesses, looking to get in to talk with workers and leadership about how both stand to benefit. Poland Spring Water Co.’s Hollis plant is having her in one day a month to be a sounding board for workers with questions. She’s hoping that leads to an invite at the Poland plant.

“What we’re trying to do is bring the services to them rather than them having to come to us, because as adults, we’re busy,” Howe said.

She splits her time between USM’s Gorham and Lewiston campuses, spending Thursdays here. She’s been active out of Lewiston-Auburn College since spring. Howe said it’s her goal to connect with four to five new area companies a month.

The pool of potential adult students is pretty deep.

“In Southern Maine, it’s over 200,000 who have started college and not finished,” Howe said.

One-third of USM’s students are nontraditional, age 25 or older.

For workers, going back to earn a college degree can bring stability for their family, she said. It can provide a fallback against a layoff, be used to advance within their company, benefit earning potential and improve self-confidence.

From an employer perspective, it’s useful for “promoting from within, educating their employees that know the business and helping them attain their education so they can lead the company,” Howe said. “Businesses are really receptive. I think they want to see their good people excel.”

When Howe went back to school, she eventually took a job at the University of New England and graduated from UNE with her bachelor’s degree in organizational leadership.

She said that degree led to a job at the Maine Educational Opportunity Center, which, fittingly, meant more opportunity for her: More pay, being able to work from home and schedule her hours around her children’s schedules.

“I was nervous and scared, and I had no idea how I was going to take care of a new baby at 21 years old, work full time and go to school, but I knew that I needed to do it,” she said.

She fit homework in on her lunch hour, on weekends and in half-hour blocks in the evening, depending upon what the children were up to.

“I definitely had tough times,” Howe said.”I would be up all night and exhausted. There was always light at the end of the tunnel for me.”

Ashley Comeau of New Gloucester said Howe has been a big help as she’s weighed going after her bachelor’s degree in nursing. They’ve discussed financial aid and credit transfers.

Comeau has a 2-year-old and a baby on the way in January. She’s contemplating heading back to college next year.

“My husband and I have talked about it,” she said. “It would be a couple of years of having to buckle down, but at the end of the day, it would be so worth it, so worth it.”

kskelton@sunjournal.com