When I graduated from high school, college was the next logical step for me. Even though I was first person in my family to go to college, I had never thought of doing anything different. I started out my college career by moving from Bakersfield, CA, where I had lived since I was 10, to McKendree College in Illinois. The school was about an hour away from my grandma and some other family members, close to the place I had lived for the first 10 years of my life.

I began college as an elementary school teaching major, as I had always thought I would be, but as I began taking teaching courses, I knew that was not for me. Instead, I decided that I wanted to be a business major. First, it was accounting, but I finally changed my major to Finance and Economics. The business world had always interested me and I enjoyed all of my classes during my undergraduate work, even though many challenged me. I was glad to have two instructors during this time that pushed me as a student and helped me to learn so much more than I thought I could have. It was they who helped me to become a stronger more confident person and showed me that I was able to accomplish anything I set my mind to.

After receiving my Bachelor's Degree in 2001, I moved back to California to look for a job. I wasn't sure exactly what I wanted to do, but I began looking for jobs with CSUB, having thoroughly enjoyed working at McKendree college as a student for the 4 years I was in college. I had worked for the Kern County Dept. of Human Resources for about a year and a half when I was finally offered a job with CSUB. I gladly accepted the job of the Evaluator for the Extended University, where I have been for the last 3 years. Working at the college brought back my love for learning and led to me beginning to search for Master's programs to complete. The most logically and most interesting to me was the MSA program. Having worked with the program, I was familiar with the courses that were offered in the program and knew that I would really enjoy the variety of business and administrative courses that I would be taking. I also realized that the skills and knowledge that I would gain from this program would be a great asset for me in my career, whether I continue at CSUB or change jobs.

During the time I have been in the MSA program, I have re-gained the confidence in my abilities that I held when I was completing my Bachelor's degree. I am very proud of the work that I have completed and the fact that I was the first person in my family to receive a Bachelor's Degree and will be the first to receive my Master's Degree as well. I have also learned so many valuable skills during my course work that I can use in my daily life. I have been able to improve my communication with staff and faculty and gained a greater insight into the overall picture of the University and our Department's role in that. I have gained knowledge into how to effectively complete projects, maintain a budget, perform cost-benefit analysis, and other such skills that make me a better employer and will help me to be a more desirable candidate for any job that I might seek.

I am very exciting to be completing the MSA program. I am looking forward to finally having my Master's degree and being able to look forward to what my career might hold in the future.