Reflection: I am graduating soon! My capstone project for my bachelor’s degree program was accepted and my final course passed the last week in August and I am proud that I am finished with all of my coursework and will be graduating with my Bachelor of Science in Business Management-IT from Western Governors University of WA this fall. In a culmination of five years-1825 days-of hard work in over 35 courses amidst working full time, health issues, renovating& selling one house, building another, finding a new job during a pandemic, and a hectic life.
I am currently a
data engineer at a large international software company in Redmond, WA. I have
many years of experience in business operations – in various capacities – and
about 15 solid years as a data analyst. I have raised three children and so I
am now in my next phase of life, and have just completed my Undergraduate
degree in Business with an IT focus through Western Governors University (WGU).
I started dreaming of college as a young teen, and then at
18, I became a teen mother. Setbacks. And then I was married with 3 small children
in my early twenties, we became homeless for a while. More setbacks. And I
struggled again when I became a single mother at 24, and experienced another
round of homelessness. More struggles, but we eventually pulled out of it and I
began to flourish and stabilize.
Although my dreams were cut short for a while, I never gave
up on someday going to college. It took 25-ish years - I remarried, bought a
home, raised my kids, did a lifetime, built a career, had a few false starts at
college along the way, and finally I signed up for WGU in 2015. I don’t care
that it took me five years. Although I will probably not get to walk in a live
ceremony thanks to Covid, I am so grateful for so many things in my life: For
all the cheers, support and love I have been given along the way, especially
for my husband and my student program mentor who kept me in check and focused!
It has been quite the journey!
I am now fairly successful in my career as a business analyst and data
engineer. I am skilled and mid to advanced-level in various productivity
software packages such as Excel, Access, SQL (relational database query logic),
data visualization and reporting software such as Tableau and PowerBI. But I’m
not that great at math- it takes a lot of brainpower to remember all the
formulas and functions, but I think I get by and do better with business
functions and SQL logic). I think I did well with Probability & stats too
once I got the hang of it. Regardless of what I excel at in my studies (or not),
my life has been a non-stop classroom and learning environment with a long-learning
curve, so I have mastered some pretty cool things I did not intend to learn,
such as budgeting on a shoestring, changing the sparkplugs in my car after the
oil leaks have stalled said car, and negotiating with a 15-year old – and their
teachers.
My next life goals include taking my career to
the next level by obtaining my Master’s degree in Data Analytics, expanding my
job responsibilities and finding opportunities to expand my leadership and
influence through volunteer opportunities in my community. I have been part of a
United Way fund-raising campaign leadership committee at work, and doing outside
speaking events for United Way campaigns over the last few years to share my
experiences, that give me a lot of perspective, great practice at sharing my
story, and encourages others to have a vision for themselves beyond survival.
Though I am not in that fund-raising campaign leadership position any longer
(that ended with my recent layoff during Covid), I am still finding ways to
make a difference. I will always strive to continue my education wherever I am in
my life. Thank you to WGU for giving me the opportunity of a lifetime!
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