>> I have two degrees.
I have a Bachelor's degree in International Relations,
which is from a college called West Virginia Wesleyan College.
And I have a Master's Degree in History with a concentration
in Latin America from the University of Illinois.
I was really interested in International things when I was in college
and just loved to follow those kinds of topics.
And I didn't really know what I was going to do with it when I got out.
But I really enjoyed being part of the higher education environment
and hoped to continue on in that.
So when I graduated I actually called and talked to a person
who had been my admissions counselor.
When I was looking at colleges he really helped me and encouraged me
to look at that particular school.
And so I called back and said I'm thinking about doing something in higher education.
Do you have any suggestions for me?
He said oh, I think you would love admissions.
I think you'd enjoy working with students and I think it would be really, you know,
high energy for you and you'd just be a great fit.
So I tried it.
I took a job, first job, in admissions and I loved it.
It was so much fun to encourage students and tell them, you know,
you're going to be able to do this.
You can definitely get a college degree.
It's going to open a lot of doors for you.
And I was able to get really good results.
And things went well and that opened some doors of opportunity for me.
And especially, a lot of areas of higher education there's a lot of movement,
things turn over and positions open up.
And so if you're a person that everybody can count on, you get great results and you stick
around a little bit, you will find that you have more opportunities to take
on bigger and bigger leadership roles.
So I would just say, you know, look for those opportunities to prove yourself.
Take on bigger projects, volunteer for larger and larger areas of responsibility
and then nail them, you know, execute when you get that opportunity
and pretty soon you'll find that advancement comes with it.