>> Excelsior for me was a second chance, so I had done a lot of technical studies for a number
of reasons, life happened, and I didn't finish the degree I had started pursuing.
I was working on electrical engineering degree at Brigham Young University.
I was able, fortunately, to get a job at the Johnson space center as a contractor,
and the absence of the degree was a challenge, I didn't get the job I wanted.
But I was working, going to night school.
But getting lost in the job and loving the job.
One day my boss came to me and said, "Mark, we like you, you're great.
We'd love to promote you, but we can't because you don't have a degree.
And you're already supervising people that are more educated,
more qualified than you are and that looks bad.
So we've got to do something about it, you've got to get a degree."
Thanks to my wife, she stumbled on Excelsior, which at the time was called Regents College.
And I submitted the transcripts from all the different schools I'd attended.
And found I was only six hours away from a degree at Regents.
And was able to complete that and that then got my diploma.
I was able then to progress within that company.