Class of 2026: Tony and Wanda Reynolds pursued their degrees side by side

By Sian Wilkerson

For more than 30 years, Tony and Wanda Reynolds have been inseparable. From family to their shared profession, their iron-tight bond has bolstered them - and it's even taken them back to the classroom at Virginia Commonwealth University.

This spring, the couple will graduate with their bachelor's degrees in psychology from the College of Humanities and Sciences.

Their higher education journey began in the winter of 2015 when, as a Christmas present, Tony enrolled Wanda in classes at John Tyler Community College, now Brightpoint. While Tony had previously spent time in higher education - he enrolled in VCU on a wrestling scholarship in the late 1970s but left to join the workforce before he could graduate - Wanda, the youngest of 15 children, had never been.

Knowing his wife had always wanted to earn a degree, Tony was excited to surprise her. But when he went to sign her up, he realized that he not only wanted to help his wife grow but he wanted to grow, too.

"So I enrolled myself in the same classes," Tony said.

Now 65 and 58, respectively, Tony and Wanda worked together toward their associate degrees, which they received in 2020. Every semester, they took the same courses, competing to see who could get the higher GPA each term.

It could be difficult, Tony said: "I wasn't used to studying - I was out of school for a long time." But with hard work, dedication and the spirit of competition, they did it. After the first degree, Tony figured that was it. Then Wanda said she wanted to pursue her bachelor's.

"I told her, 'Well, if you're going to continue, I'm going to continue,'" Tony said. He had just one condition: he wanted to go back to VCU. In 2021, that's what they did, enrolling together in the psychology program.

"I knew that there was not going to be any stopping - I was going to continue to go," Wanda said. "We had our journey through Tyler, and that was great. It just lit a fire in me, and then we transferred over to VCU, which has ignited the fire even bigger. It's been a wonderful, wonderful journey and doing a subject that I absolutely love, getting a degree in the subject that I absolutely love, which is helping people."

As couples' counselors and mentors, the Reynolds chose psychology because of its applicability in their field. They began ad hoc counseling in their church after their pastor asked a series of couples, including the Reynolds, to participate in a seminar about rebuilding relationships. After that first seminar through the church, Tony and Wanda felt they'd found their calling, and they decided to develop their own counseling service.

The lessons they pass on to the couples in their care are the same ones they've learned together over the years.

"Communication and respect go hand-in-hand," Wanda said. "For any relationship, you have to have that communication, but you also have to respect each other enough to feel safe enough to communicate. From there, [couples] can build on everything else - but we believe that first, they have to establish good communication."

Making time for each other is also key: "We emphasize over and over: date each other," Wanda continued. "No matter how long you've been married, no matter how long you've been in a relationship, always date. We teach that because we've never stopped dating … and getting to know each other is an ongoing process. It's an everyday process."

While they weren't able to continue taking every class together, Tony and Wanda were able to lean on each other. At home, they studied together, practiced their skills and discussed the topics that were tripping them up.

"We took this journey as a challenge - we push each other," Wanda said. "We're always fighting to see who gets the highest GPA. And for us, that's striving to be the best that we can be. Achieving our goals together, we do pretty much everything together and we enjoy just growing together."

As for who's leading the race, well - "That's not really that important," Tony said with a laugh. ("Girl power," Wanda interrupted, pointing at herself.) "We've just been blessed that we've been able to pass all our classes on time."

Following the completion of their undergraduate degrees, Wanda plans to continue in higher education. Eventually, she would like to complete a doctorate. Right now, Tony is still undecided about whether or not he'll continue.

Thankfully, there's plenty of time to make up his mind: "It's never too late," he said. "It's never too late to educate yourself, it's never too late to grow or to change. We want other adults who feel like, 'Oh, I'm too old to go back to school, I'm too old to learn anything different,' - that's not true. You're never too old."