Such success has a price. Students are required to attend the program full-time. They are strongly urged to take leave from their job and work exclusively on their degree. The program provides scholarships, grants and paid internships, but attendance is almost always a sacrifice.

Paxton left his wife in Kansas and survived on the money she made baby-sitting during the year he spent in Texas. Calaway and his wife sold their home to move South for the year. Myrna Villanueva, a current student who took leave from her position at Cuyahoga Community College, was concerned about making ends meet during her year of study.

"It's a choice, a commitment," she said. "It was a leap of faith. I said to Dr. [John] Roueche that I was concerned about the financial challenges, that I would really like to eat once I get there. All he said was, `If you get here, we will take care of you,' and I knew he meant it."

Walter Bumphus said the support he received was crucial. "There was no way I could attend this university without some support," he said.

For Suanne Roueche, who was inspired to take on a national research project and direct an internship program after graduating from CCLP in 1975, the program "gives you a lot of confidence in your ability. It not only prepares you and gives you a good foundation for which you believe you can do anything," she said. "It generated in me the spirit that just about anything I pursue I could do well."

Thornton agrees: "The program becomes a catalyst to have you stretch as much as you can and to see yourself in the arena with other leaders," she said. "It helps you realize the potential that's there in you, the leadership potential."

COPYRIGHT 1996 Cox, Matthews & Associates