Angela Hart
Leaving a Legacy or True Success
In the spirit of Project Working Mom and the requirements necessary to be qualified to receive educational funds, I am offering the following essay for your consideration. It will hopefully tell the story of a woman who: 1) sees the value of a college education; 2) has the motivation to earn a college degree; and 3) takes the opportunity to use that degree to advance her career, improve the quality of life for her family, and benefit other members of her community.
I graduated from high school in 1984 and married that same year. Three years later I started a family with my husband, and I enjoyed life as a full-time mother of two boys. Unfortunately, as a result of a divorce in 1999, I became a single mom and was suddenly thrust into a new and scary role as sole breadwinner for my family. With no relevant work experience to speak of, I hardly had a resume with which to enter the paid work force. I was, however, resourceful, in creating an impressive resume based on the many leadership positions I had held while serving in various volunteer roles. These positions included Reading Incentive Chairman, PTA Secretary, President of the local little league football organization, and bookkeeper/financial manager for my ex-husbands business. With that resume, I successfully sold myself into a mid-level position with the company where I have now been employed for nearly twelve years.
From my quiet beginning as a mid-level bookkeeper, I have made steady and significant advancements in my 12-year career with our companies. While serving as Accounting Assistant to our CPA, I developed and led a fledgling Human Resources initiative. I was later promoted to Production Team Leader, responsible for sixteen teams consisting of two hundred employees working three shifts. I have held the position of Key Account Manager for several international accounts. I am currently one of four Account Executives for our three multimillion-dollar companies, of which I am now one of a handful of shareholders.
Today, however, I find myself at a crossroads. While I may consider that I have accomplished much with only a high school diploma, I see that I am in fact limited as to the level of success I am able to attain. Without a college degree, I cannot progress any further within my company than my present position. In essence, my career advancement and income level have nearly reached their maximum potential. I never fully appreciated the value of a college education until now.
Earning a degree would benefit my employer as well as catapult my career. I would be promoted into a position with increased responsibilities as well as greater influence within our three companies. My employer and I both share the desire for me to assume the roles of Human Resources Director and Accounting Administrator. However, obtaining these positions is contingent upon my earning a degree in Business Administration. I would, therefore, have a very strong incentive in pursuing and completing this degree program. I would also receive the added benefits of a substantial increase in pay, influence and prestige.
Dave Crowder, the Vice President of our small woman-owned business, has this vision: To have a work place so healthy that folks are lined up at the front door waiting to come in and work for us, while our services are so outstanding that we have product enough going out the back door to support their employment. To be the conduit of a dream where a greater corporate environment is created and whereby people can work securely and support their families, which are also often headed by other single moms, is a dream worth striving for. Earning a degree will enable me to help make that dream become a reality.
Besides advancing my career, a degree would also benefit my family. In 2007, my Dad became disabled due to a debilitating illness. He was no longer able to work, and in the spring of this year, he and my mom moved in with me. My dad is bravely battling cancer, and he is an inspiration to me. Like me, he was a highly skilled but not formally educated employee. Although he worked very hard and found a level of success that makes me proud of him, he never earned a college degree. This meant that he worked in a position that afforded him limited preparation for retirement or for a catastrophic event like cancer. My mom, just as inspiring, was a stay-at-home wife. With only an eighth-grade education, she did a wonderful job in raising her two daughters. She has seen one of her daughters (my sister) aspire and earn her Master's degree in psychology.
There is no doubt of the impact a degree would have in the workplace, on prospective employees in my community, in my ability to provide for my parents, or the personal pride I would have among my peers. But I believe its greatest benefit would be the legacy I would create for my sons. They have seen their mom defy the odds. They have seen me overcome adversity in my climb up the corporate ladder through a combination of faith, integrity and hard work. And while they may view my progression from a housewife to a senior Account Executive as a modern American success story, Im afraid they may have come to a false conclusion. It is the same conclusion I had come to until now, that one does not have to have a college-level education to become successful.
I know that times are different than they were more than twenty years ago when I graduated from high school. It was easier back then to land a decent job that did not require an education beyond the high school level. However, in todays economy, we need a degree to help our employers keep their competitive edge. On the home front, we need a degree to provide as much as we can for our families needs.
Learning about Project Working Mom has been an exciting, eye-opening event for me. I realized through this process that this is my time. It is a time where I can take advantage of a once-in-a-lifetime chance to win a scholarship that will allow me to grow educationally, personally and corporately. It is a time where I can earn a degree on-line in the evenings from my home while still meeting the rigorous demands of my job and my family. It is a time of true opportunity.
In this essay, I hope you have seen the heart of a woman, a woman who loves her family, respects her employers, has served and will continue to serve her community, and who has recognized the need to obtain a degree. I hope you have also heard the story of a woman who is determined to make her part of the world a better place on many levels. I hope that most of all, you have found the story of a woman worthy of receiving the scholarship being offered through Project Working Mom.
My sons know I am entering the Project Working Mom contest and that I have started on the path to earning my degree. When I reach this milestone in my life, it will give them pause to re-examine the choices they have made thus far, to re-evaluate their own goals in life, and to perhaps arrive at a different conclusion about the value of a college education. By winning this contest and subsequently earning my degree I would give my sons the vision to see today what it has taken me over 40 years to see. Only then would I consider myself truly successful. This is the legacy I want to leave.