"It would provide me with the remaining 30 hours that I need to qualify for the exam, and having a graduate degree has a lot of clout and prestige so that if I decided to switch to private accounting it can help leverage me into a position of leadership faster than if I just had a bachelor's degree. It just seemed like a win-win-win to me.鈥
鈥淲hen I spoke with the coordinator, she took a look at all my credits she said, 鈥楢bsolutely you can do this. You'll have your degree in a year.鈥 At that point I'd been trying to finish this degree for 鈥 I'm not even exaggerating 鈥 20 years. I think I cried. It was this this thing that was hanging over my head that I hadn't finished.鈥
鈥淢y current employer tried to hire me before I even graduated. They were specifically looking for a quality coordinator, and I thought, 鈥業 can鈥檛 do that; I鈥檓 just starting.鈥 But I went to my professor and he helped prepare me for that interview.鈥
鈥淚 was worried about not making connections with my professors, but that didn't happen. I was able to make strong connections with my professors and with my cohort. In fact, I still talk to many of the people from cohort. The professors gave us opportunities to work together, and that lead to some amazing connections."
