Cracking the Cost of College — One Egg at a Time

By Eli Meschko

Media & Communications Coordinator

Egg prices are soaring. In fact, eggs are nearly 60 percent more expensive than they were last year. But for Delores Vondrak, eggs weren’t just a grocery item. They were her college tuition.

Vondrak, a member of Briar Cliff University’s 1958 graduating class, paid for her entire higher education in eggs. That’s right — she paid her tuition with eggs!

It’s not as nice or easy as it sounds, though. Vondrak’s parents were hard-working farmers, and she grew up on her family farm just north of Sioux City in Plymouth County.

Although she turns 90 this May, she vividly remembers the hard work that went into gathering the eggs.

First off, she’d have to feed the chickens every morning, noon and night. She also had to make sure the chickens had enough water, but she reminded readers that in mid-20th-century rural Iowa — her family didn’t have running water.

She had to walk down to the well on the farm, pump the water into a pail and then carry that pail back to the chicken coop. After all that, the chickens eventually laid some eggs, but the job wasn’t done.

“Chickens have to go to the bathroom and poop, just like we do,” Vondrak said. “They usually just go on the ground, and you have to walk through all of that when you’re gathering the eggs.”

After she gathered the eggs, she took them and placed them in a big wooden crate that held about 60 eggs. Each egg was separated with cardboard, and she would leave the crate in the cool farmhouse basement.

After a week or so, she loaded the eggs into her car, drove to Sioux City and brought the eggs through Heelan Hall’s back door, which at the time was the only building on campus.

“I don’t know if they would pay [my mom] every week or every month,” Vondrak said. “But those checks were what paid my tuition all three years.”

All three years? College is usually four years, right?

Well, prior to attending Briar Cliff, Vondrak actually attended Morningside College for her freshman year. She didn’t have a car at the time, but her neighbor’s daughter attended Morningside, so she caught rides with her.

The only issue that came up during her first year was that Morningside placed her in difficult classes, like chemistry, that she didn’t have much background in because she grew up going to “country school.”

Country school is essentially where all the farm kids out in the country would congregate for elementary school. They were taught the basics, like English, writing and math, but once they got to junior high and high school, they were a little behind.

“When we got sent to Sioux City for junior high, it was a whole new world,” Vondrak said. “In country school, we didn’t even know how to play volleyball. We played tag and a game we called ‘Annie Annie Over’ — just throwing a ball over the schoolhouse.”

After graduating from Central High, the majority of her classmates from the country school didn’t go on to college. Their families needed their help on the farms. Delores was one of the few who did pursue a higher education — which was rare.

Yet, she still didn’t have much help from her parents either.

“My parents couldn’t help me much with chemistry because they were farmers, and most farmers didn’t get to the point I was at,” Vondrak said. “My mom went on to be a teacher, but I still wasn’t getting any help.

“I prayed to the Lord to help me find the right path,” Vondrak said. “So, that’s when I transferred over to Briar Cliff.”

After transferring, it’s not like she became instantly more knowledgeable in subjects like chemistry. The struggles were still there, but this time she had some guidance.

She credited Sister Claire Hoxmeier and Sister Edward Pottebaum for helping guide her through the difficult classes.

“Those were two of the main teachers that I had that really helped,” Vondrak said. “They helped me many times, even after hours.”

After graduating with a degree in Home Economics, she spent some time volunteering at St. Luke’s Regional Medical Center, where she helped guide families and patients to the X-ray department and other areas depending on their need.

However, she severely missed the classroom, so she applied for Elk Point-Jefferson High School’s home economics job. She ended up teaching home economics for 27 years before transitioning into Elk Point-Jefferson’s special education department, where she spent another 28 years.

She ended up calling it a career in 2018. After she retired, she moved back to her family farm to spend time with her brother and lend a helping hand.

Currently, she resides at Bickford of Sioux City as a precaution after a minor incident on the farm, but she looks forward to returning home in a few months.

About to turn 90 years old, Delores Vondrak is a living reminder that grit, grace and a crate of eggs can go a long way.

“You young people today have so many opportunities,” Vondrak said. “I didn’t have computers, but we had a good set of encyclopedias and a whole lot of hard work.”

She smiled, thinking about the journey. “It wasn’t easy, but the Lord guided me. And I wouldn’t change a thing.”