I started community college one week after I graduated from high school to begin pursuing a degree in Pharmacy. I did well and graduated with an associate degree after 18 months and felt I was ready to move on to the university level. I applied to and was accepted to Auburn University. What a huge difference from the small community college I had attended! Having never spent more than a week away from my family, I did not like being 12 hours away. I quickly learned that I didn’t have the support system that I needed and didn’t thrive in such a large community. I left after one semester and went home. Fall semester started at the community college and I re-enrolled with a change in my major. University of South Florida had started offering courses at a satellite campus on the community college grounds and I enrolled in some of those courses as well. I was successful again and continued to pursue a degree in business until life changed again. I dropped out of college to get married and follow my husband who was stationed overseas in northern Japan. When we returned to the United States, I re-enrolled in school at Saint Leo University. However, after just two semesters, I became pregnant and had to put my school on hold. A few years later, my husband and I divorced. As a single parent, I then had to support myself and my child with no college degree. As my son started school, I discovered that the only way I could advance in my employment was to earn a college degree. I struggled at an entry level bookkeeping job at a CPA firm and took online classes after my son went to bed and on the weekends when my son was at his father’s. A couple of years later, my son turned 8 and I graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Management with a focus on Accounting from Saint Leo University. Still working for the same CPA firm, I was now eligible for a position as a tax accountant but wouldn’t be able to advance without a master’s degree and a CPA certification. I enrolled in graduate school and continued my education online at Saint Leo University. In 2010, I graduated with an MBA with a focus on accounting at the age of 38. My son turned 10 that year and was as excited as I was that I was graduating. Now, it’s twelve years later and my son is a college Sophomore and I have decided to pursue a Juris Master with a concentration in Financial Regulation and Compliance at Florida State University. This time it’s a little different now. That bachelor’s degree and master’s degree didn’t get me very far at the CPA firm I worked at, but they did get me an introduction to the company I currently work for. I’m now the Chief Financial and Compliance Officer for a local mortgage lender in Tampa, Florida. I’ve also married a wonderful man who along with my son and my employer supports my decision to go back to school and get this degree because I want to do it for me. I want to become the best person that I can be and get a degree in something that interests me while furthering my career.

Being a parent has greatly affected my journey to higher education. I initially dropped out of college to get married and follow my husband who was stationed overseas in the service. When we returned to the United States, I re-enrolled in school. However, after just two semesters, I became pregnant and had to put my school on hold. A few years later, my husband and I divorced. As a single parent, I then had to support myself and my child with no college degree. As my son started school, I discovered that the only way I could advance in my employment was to earn a college degree. I struggled at an entry level bookkeeping job at a CPA firm and took online classes after my son went to bed and on the weekends when my son was at his father’s. A couple of years later, my son turned 8 and I graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Management with a focus on Accounting from Saint Leo University. Still working for the same CPA firm, I was now eligible for a position as a tax accountant but wouldn’t be able to advance without a master’s degree and a CPA certification. I enrolled in graduate school and continued my education online at Saint Leo University. In 2010, I graduated with an MBA with a focus on accounting at the age of 38. My son turned 10 that year and was as excited as I was that I was graduating. Now, it’s twelve years later and my son is a college Sophomore and I have decided to pursue a Juris Master with a concentration in Financial Regulation and Compliance at Florida State University. This time it’s a little different now. That bachelor’s degree and master’s degree didn’t get me very far at the CPA firm I worked at, but they did get me an introduction to the company I currently work for. I’m now the Chief Financial and Compliance Officer for a local mortgage lender in Tampa, Florida. I’ve also married a wonderful man who along with my son and my employer supports my decision to go back to school and get this degree because I want to do it for me. I want to become the best person that I can be and get a degree in something that interests me while furthering my career.