As of 2023, 61.4% of high school graduates enrolled in colleges or universities the semester following their graduation. Others immediately enter the workforce or choose to attend college at a later stage in life. Kathy Partak and her son Mason Partak chose this nontraditional route of education.

For senior advertising major Kathy Partak, her college education has been spaced out by years in the workforce. After high school, she attended junior college, which she decided not to complete. She said in the 1990s and early 2000s, it was much more difficult to find a job without a bachelor’s degree.

“The computers would scan for ‘does this person have a college degree,’ and I was told straight up: ‘You’re not being considered because you don’t have a degree,’” Kathy Partak said. “So, I had a lot of life experience and was very qualified for the things that I was applying for, but I wasn’t even getting a crack at it.”

With a long resume in real estate, cake decorating, public speaking and more, she had the opportunity to return to school in her mid-40s and earned an associate’s degree in 2013. 

Enrolling at App State in 2021, Kathy Partak said, “Now, it’s just personal.” She said she will be a first-generation college graduate in her family, and her goal is to “cross the finish line personally.”

“I love being in school. I love being on campus. I love being around all of you young people. I love listening to your ideas and hearing the things that you guys think,” Kathy Partak said. “When I’m with my peers, and I’m listening to these crotchety old men, they’re like, ‘Oh, these young kids, they are not plugged in. They don’t know what’s going on.’ I’m like, ‘When was the last time you sat down and had a conversation with some of them? Because I’m here to tell you, they’re not stupid. They’re very plugged in.’”

Between Kathy Partak’s graduation from junior college and her enrollment at App State, she was also assisting her son Mason Partak’s “kid cook” adventures. 

Freshman apparel design and merchandising major Mason Partak began his cooking legacy doing live cooking demonstrations on network television, including appearances on Good Morning Sacramento and Guy’s Grocery Games. At age 11, he won an episode in season 1 of Chopped Jr. He also appeared on The Steve Harvey Show after raising $26,000 for his elementary school kitchen. During this time, Kathy Partak managed Mason Partak’s rising fame.

“We traveled the country doing cooking demonstrations and that kind of stuff,” Kathy Partak said. “So my education got put on hold while we had all of that experience, which was super-duper fun.”

Mason Partak also took some time after high school before seeking a college degree. After graduating high school in California, Mason Partak moved to North Carolina and worked for a few years before attending App State at age 21. He said despite his history with cooking, he wanted to learn something new in college. He said his interest in art and creative projects inspired him to pursue a degree in apparel design and merchandising.

“I’d much rather go to school for something that I find interesting and that I don’t already have a background in,” Mason Partak said. “If I am able to make a career out of it, great, but I also have a lot of other skills, like public speaking and cooking, that I can fall back on and have different jobs if need be. At the same time, I just wanted to come do something interesting.”

Mason Partak said he still loves cooking, but being in the spotlight sometimes made him feel “fed up.” He said that oftentimes his mother would ask if he was ready to be done with his cooking stardom.

“It was never like she was trying to live vicariously through me and make me successful for her,” Mason Partak said. “It was more of just, ‘If this is something you want to do, I will continue to help facilitate and make things happen for you and essentially manage you. But I also don’t want to make it seem like this is the end all be all, and if you don’t do this, I’ll be upset.’ That was never the feeling I got.”

Kathy Partak said despite dealing with the occasional butting of heads, their relationship benefited from the experience. 

“I think our relationship, if not came out the other side unscathed, came out the other side better for it, and we learned how to communicate with each other well,” Mason Partak said.

Kathy Partak decided to spend her fall 2025 semester on campus rather than online, like she has been since her enrollment at App State. She said her decision came from loving the fall season in the mountains and wanting to be on campus with her son. She said the two often meet up in between classes for lunch.

Kathy Partak said she often compares her life to the 2018 Melissa McCarthy film “Life of the Party.” In it, a woman returns to college to complete her degree while attending at the same time as her daughter.

“I told Mason, ‘That’s going to be me. Everybody’s going to love me. I’m going to be homecoming queen,’ Kathy Partak said. “He’s like, ‘Shut up. You’re not even going to be there a semester. Nobody’s even going to know who you are,’ and I said, ‘You just wait.’”