HAMMOND | In her mid-20s, Maureen Miller attended Calumet College to earn a degree but got a little side-tracked.

About 30 years later and after a bout with breast cancer, Miller, now 57, is graduating with an associate's degree as a paralegal. She is set to do an internship with Merrillville attorney Steve Rodriguez in August and intends to earn a bachelor's degree in 2009.

"In the (1970s), I went to school for about a year, but I didn't finish," she said.

Miller managed to earn a real estate license and has worked for McColly Realtors for the past eight years.

"I kept thinking that I wanted to go back," she said. "After my son was an adult and an episode with breast cancer, I decided to go back. It was the right decision for me."

Miller said breast cancer slowed her down, but her husband, Patrick, a poker room dealer at Majestic Star Casino, helped her by driving her around when she had to show houses.

Real estate renewed Miller's love for the law, she said.

"I got so involved that I wanted to get a degree related to the law," she said. "My experience at Calumet College has taught me how to multitask and still give 110 percent to everything that I'm striving to do."

She said the faculty goes out of its way to make sure students have what they need, and "that's a lot to say about any college."