A study investigated tenacity of adult students who have once again made their way back to academia. The specific purpose was to discover how these students understood their own history of college enrollment and their perceptions of themselves as persisters. Participants were 63 "tenacious persisters" in three sections of an orientation class at a private, religiously affiliated, southeast college. During an in-class writing assignment, participants were asked to provide an academic history, including names of institutions and dates of attendance. They were also asked to reflect upon their prior college experiences as they answered these two open-ended questions: what was keeping you from achieving your academic goals prior to now? and why are you in college now? Responses were reviewed to identify emergent themes for each question. Responses to the question on why students perceived they had been unsuccessful in past attempts at college were classified into these five dimensions: negative academic experiences, perceived lack of academic skills, lack of purpose and direction, family factors, and financial issues. Responses to the question on why students chose this time in their lives to return to school were classified into these three dimensions: new sense of self-awareness, career and financial issues, and family factors. (Contains 11 references.) (YLB)