Kristopher Marinas
Kristopher Marinas, of Indiana, didn’t take the traditional path to his Asian Studies degree and teaching English as a second language certificate at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, but he’s crossing the finish line with an honor not many students have achieved.
Marinas, 32, will be honored during IUP’s December commencement for graduating with a perfect 4.0 grade point average—all while working as a full-time night shift custodian in the university’s Administration and Finance Division.
“I’m proud of the achievement, but I think one of the reasons I was able to maintain that grade point average is that I tried not to stress about it. I was always motivated to do well in my studies, but having a perfect 4.0 was never necessarily a goal,” he said.
“Probably the most challenging times during my studies was when I had writing-intensive classes, balancing in-person classes, writing assignments, and my job—finding time to sleep was a bit of a challenge, but it worked out,” he said. “I learned quickly how to adapt to the different demands of each semester, and manage my time,” he said.
Marinas, the son of the late Joseph Marinas of Indiana and Debra Allison and Clifford Allison of Blairsville, graduated from Blairsville High School in 2010 and enrolled at Clarion University of Pennsylvania (now PennWest Clarion), but family obligations necessitated him leaving after a year.
After his late father joined the IUP Administration and Finance Division as a full-time employee, Kristopher decided to return to college at IUP, initially thinking about a career as a veterinarian. Eventually, because of a long-time interest in Japan, he decided to change his major to Asian Studies.
“Math and science classes come pretty easily to me, so switching to Asian Studies was a way to challenge myself,” he said.
He started taking classes in spring 2022, and except for that first semester, carried at least 12 credits per semester and took classes during the summer, so he was able to graduate in three and a half years. His advanced placement credits and his classes at Clarion were also accepted by IUP, and those helped him meet his degree requirements. As an IUP employee, he qualified for a financial tuition waiver.
“The tuition waiver, along with the financial aid I received, made it possible for me to get my degree in a very affordable way,” he said. “The tuition waiver is an incredible benefit. Because I worked 11:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m., I never had any conflicts with classes because of my work schedule,” he said.
“My faculty were very understanding, and my supervisors and co-workers were also very supportive of my studies,” he said. “I had good experiences with students—they didn’t really notice I was a nontraditional student, and I got to meet a lot of different people in my classes.”
Now that he has completed his studies, Marinas will be continuing his work at IUP and has plans to eventually move to Japan to work as a teacher. He will be working with the international Japan Exchange and Teaching Program, a teaching exchange program managed by the government of Japan.
“Overall, it’s been a great experience at IUP,” he said.