HIGHER EDUCATION

And Everett Makes Seven:

Ritchie Family Embraces Educational Tradition

By Heather Darrow

Attending Collin College is a Ritchie family tradition. Pictured here (left to right) are Eric Ritchie, Elsie Ritchie Dalton, Ellen Ritchie, Kim Ritchie, Eliot Ritchie, Emily Ritchie Palmer, and Everett Ritchie.

The wafting aroma of cinnamon, brown sugar, and ward. It’s been a few years, but I still have a special place butter elicits a cascading rush of mental snapshots in my heart for my first college.” of cherished family gatherings for Kim Ritchie. And while this Wylie mother of seven can recount more than 30 years of this special holiday treat, her household has another longstanding tradition — higher education at Collin College.

“I think every person can continue to learn,” said Kim. Farmersville coffee shops, added that while taking classes “Extra study should be your life’s work. It’s the thing that at Collin he realized music was something he wanted to makes you useful to your family and community.”

Kim and her husband, Mark, shared a lifelong love of learning with their children. When Everett graduates in 2021, seven family members will have taken classes at the college with six earning associate degrees.

“I’m glad to be attending Collin College, carrying on the tradition of so many family members,” said Everett, who first enrolled at the college as a dual credit student and is taking classes at the new Wylie Campus.

“We are a one-income family, and for my children to go straight to a university would have been impossible without taking out loan after loan after loan,” said Kim.

The first members of the Ritchie family to attend Collin College, Eric and Ellen, graduated in 2003 and transferred to Texas Tech University. Both earned graduate degrees, one in architecture at TTU and the other in library sciences at the University of North Texas. Eric said Collin College prepared him for his bachelor’s and graduate degrees. Ellen agreed and added, “My experience at Collin gave me the confidence and ambition to move forward.

It’s been a few years, but I still have a special place in my heart for my first college.”

Emily describes her photography education as a “remarkable, exceptional experience.” Her sister Elsie, who earned a bachelor’s degree in history from UNT, said she appreciated the musical performance opportunities. Their brother Eliot, who regularly performs in Wylie and Farmersville coffee shops, added that while taking classes at Collin he realized music was something he wanted to discover and not just be taught.

“Elsie and I sang in the chamber choir together and had the same piano and voice professors,” Kim said. “Eliot and Elsie took speech together, and Eliot and I were duet partners in aural skills. Elsie, Eliot, and I — along with special guest star, Everett — sang in a musical theater ensemble under the direction of Professor Natalya Pitts.”

Kim graduated from Collin College in 2012 and is pursuing a Bachelor of Music degree at UNT. The first in her family to attend college, she teaches piano lessons to beginners and said her Collin College musical experience provided the platform for her to be selected as a vocalist in the Dallas Symphony Chorus in 2016.

“As a parent and as a student, I highly recommend Collin College to everyone in the community,” Kim said. “The professors, campuses, and resources are incomparable for the price, and the education we all received set us up for success in our various ventures.”

For more information about the Wylie Campus, visit www.collin.edu/campuses/wylie/. •