My Way to a Better Life
Tish Hessig
Skills for Professional Development
Elaine Shilling, Ph.D.
March 12, 2005

My Way to a Better Life How many of us settle for the easy way out? This is a question that I have been asking myself for many years now with regard to my career. Over the last year I have been thinking about my life a lot; where I am, where I have been and where I am going. I have discovered that I settled for my current career as an administrative assistant because it was the easiest decision for me. I am realizing now that being back in school will change my life. I am completing the work necessary to earn my Bachelor’s Degree in Business Management and I still need to learn what I will gain with my college education. How will my life and my daughter’s life change and how will my professional career change once I have earned my college degree? In my present career, a college education will allow me many advantages such as increased earnings, an improved quality of life, more challenging positions to learn and grow, an opportunity to be a member of the management team, and I will be able to mentor others on the importance of a college education. Twenty years ago when I was finishing high school, the only requirement to getting a job was a high school diploma. Today in order to get that same job, we are required to have a college degree. Even though it was not necessary for me to have a college education, I enrolled in the local community college in the fall of 1984. My goal at that time was to earn my Associate’s Degree in Accounting and continue on to a Bachelor’s degree. After one-year in college, I took my summer break just like I had done every year that I’d been in school. My part-time job became full-time because I wanted to earn extra money and I had the free-time. My high school friends came home from college for the summer and I got to spend some time with them and heard about their college lives, living in the dorm and being away from home. After listening to my friends, I soon realized that I was not happy in college and I wanted to be out in the working world and making money. I talked to my dad about quitting college and he told me that if I quit I would have to find a full-time job that would provide me with insurance because he could no longer keep me on his employer’s health coverage if I did not attend college full-time. At that time I remember being very happy with my dad’s answer and I started looking for that full-time job. Now when I look back on it, I feel a bit of anger at my dad for allowing me to get off so easy and not pressing me to continue with school, even on a part-time basis. I found job in retail with benefits to include my own health coverage but I also remember changing jobs numerous times trying to find one that where I was truly happy. My first professional job was an entry level position as an office clerk. I was there for about a year when I decided it was time to find a new job. What I found out was that clerical positions were not that easy to find and in most instances landing a better job was often in the people that your knew or even just pure luck; especially if you did not have a college degree. I don’t remember how long I looked for a new job before a position as a bookkeeper was practically “handed to me on a silver platter”. My dad, in addition to his full-time accounting job, was working part-time as a consultant bookkeeper for a new association and his boss was a former coworker from his full-time job. His consultant position was quickly turning into full-time work and when his boss mentioned that she would hire some permanent. My dad mentioned me and my accounting background and I got the job. I worked in the bookkeeping position for about three and a half years before I moved on to work as an administrative assistant for another association. I worked for seven years as an administrative assistant for several companies and I spent two of those seven years as a supervisor before a staffing reorganization required that a more educated manager be hired to strengthen the department and the association. I eventually took a position as an Information Technology (IT) Support Assistant for a tax firm. I knew that they provided tuition assistance program, so I was around people who were working full-time and taking college courses. I started thinking about where my career was going and what my opportunities were. Since I was not an accountant, I was not able to take advantage of the tuition assistance that the firm offered but I was financially secure enough that I was able to pay for my own college courses and I returned to school in the fall of 1997. I took one or two classes per semester for about two years at the local community college. I decided I did not want to continue with an accounting degree and changed my major to business management. When I quit school in December of 1999 it was very selfish reasons because I met the man that I eventually married and we soon started a family and there just wasn’t time for school. Meanwhile, I learned that in my IT position there was much more stress than I had ever dealt with before in any of my other jobs. I did my job to the best of my ability and I received compliments and above average performance appraisals from my supervisors. I was not happy there and had often thought about changing jobs but the time never seemed right. Then the tax firm was bought out by a larger company and after a transition period, my job was eliminated. This set back did not keep me down for long because I found a position as an administrative assistant; however, I kept looking for a more challenging job where I could earn more money. I was learning that most employers required a degree before they would even offer an interview. Since I was not having any luck on my own, I turned to a Personnel Agency and they hired me as their employee. I worked there for six months before I found a temp-to-hire position that became permanent and I was in that position for two years. That manager persuaded me to return to school, actually making it a requirement for my annual appraisal process. It took me some time to decide that college was really something that I wanted to do. I have just transferred to a new manager and my chances for advancement working for her have improved greatly. In my eyes there were many obstacles in my way: money, time, which school, what degree and could I really finish it this time? My money issue was soon resolved because my company will pay a set amount of college tuition under their Educational Assistance program. Since time was an issue to me, I looked around at schools that offered weekend or online courses and another obstacle was removed because I found University of Phoenix. The counselor that I was working with explained that it would only take me 3 years to finish and earn my Bachelor’s degree and that is not that far off and I am determined to reach my goal this time. I know for the company where I am currently employed, I can not advance any further with out a college degree. For the longest time this did not bother me; I was content just to have a job and my only concern was for the income that I was earning to support myself and my daughter. My curiosity started to get the best of me and I researched the Educational Assistance Program with in my company and found that their policy is to promote the educational development of its employees as long as the course work or degree is in direct correlation with business objectives. So it became more evident to me that returning to college was very important to me for wherever I might be headed next in my career. What is the value of a college education? For this question, I think in terms of my present career because I can not imagine leaving this company. I actually look forward to going to work, doing my job and being around the people I work for and my coworkers. Now that I have returned to college I will work with my supervisor as my education progresses so that what I learn will benefit my current position. This will allow me to have a goal plan in mind for where my career may advance once I have earned my degree. I have been told by a member of management that my salary will increase significantly once I have earned my degree and that I will be able to join the management team. This will also allow me additional job opportunities and chances for advancement which will provide me with a great job satisfaction and the ability to hold on to a job. All of this will lead to an improved quality of life for me and my daughter. My hope is my daughter will follow in my footsteps and go to college and for her sake I hope she will go right after high school and not have to struggle like her mom has. And lastly, having my degree will allow me an opportunity to mentor others on the value of a college education.