Story Last Updated: October 2015 Current Position Updated: March 2019
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Bill Lolio’s days begin at 6:30 a.m., when he gets out of bed to head to his job as a UPS delivery driver. It’s a tough job, he said, but one that makes him appreciate the sleep he gets each night.
“I run around all day,” Lolio said. “I’ve never had a job in my life where I’m so glad to get home at the end of the day. I’m tired, but it’s a good tired.”
His route begins at 7:30 a.m. and he usually gets home from work around 6:30 p.m. That is, every day except Thursday, when he leaves work at 5:30 p.m. to get to class at Gwynedd Mercy University’s Center City campus.
It’s a schedule the Philadelphia native has been keeping for the past two years, and one that paid off in June 2014 when he earned his associate’s degree in Business Administration.
But taking college courses wasn’t something Lolio, 46, always planned to do. He dropped out of high school in the 1980s and originally took the job with UPS because it offered the benefits his young family needed.
“I had the one son, so I started just for the health care,” Lolio said.
Then he considered becoming a Philadelphia police officer — a job that would require him to earn his GED, which he did in 1995. He changed his mind about the career move and stuck with his UPS job, which he said he enjoys.
Three years ago, Lolio went to work and saw a Gwynedd Mercy University table with information about the School of Graduate and Professional Studies*. At first, he walked by the table, but he turned around and asked for some information about the programs, he said.
He had talked to his wife before about getting a college education, and when he realized how manageable it would be, he decided to give a Gwynedd Mercy University degree a try, he said.
“I liked the one night a week of class,” Lolio said.
After his Thursday class, he gets home around 11 p.m., which leaves him barely enough time to get some sleep before his alarm clock rings at 6:30 a.m. again on Fridays. The schedule is tough, but he finds time for a break, he said.
“I have a rule. I don’t do anything on Friday night. I don’t go out, I don’t open a book. I just relax,” Lolio said.
He also likes his learning team, a group of two women with whom he would study on the weekend.
“We called ourselves ‘The Weekenders,’” Lolio said. “We will be friends for the next 20 years.”
Lolio plans to get his bachelor’s degree, but he’s going to wait on a promotion at UPS. If he gets promoted to a managerial position, the company will assist with his tuition.
*GMercyU's School of Graduate and Professional Studies programs are now called Non-Term Online/Accelerated programs.
