Wife, mother, grandma, previous student and a woman on a mission is Kim Dial and the one I chose to interview. I met Kim shortly after I started working at Millikin and it didn’t take long for us to become friends.
While working full time here at Millikin, she was also excelling at being a student. I asked Kim how she felt this degree had helped her. She was honest with me and stated at this time she has not seen the benefits of the degree. She is hoping sometime soon. When asked if she chose the right degree, she stated that she is not sure. She did say that if she had to do it all over again, she may have chose a different path.
When pursuing a bachelors degree, make sure it will help you fullfill your passion. That it will go along with what you want to do for the rest of your life. When asked about if she would want to go back and get her Masters degree, she was laughing and said the thought of going back to school again makes her very nervous and sick to her stomach. Why? Because it takes a lot of commitment and time.
Sean whom is Kims husband was a student as well and they graduated together. This meant that a lot of their weekends were spent studying. When I asked Kim how much time she spent on homework she told me she would spend 2 to 3 hours every day. There was not a day that went by that she did not work on some form of homework.
She would also spend 4-5 hours of class time a week. There were times when she was juggling 2 and 3 classes at a time. I also asked her how she managed her time being a wife, mom, grandmother, student and employee. She stated that is the most challenging part about being an adult learner. It a balancing act!
“That is the most challenging part about being an adult learner. It is a balancing act!”
There were many late nights and early mornings! There were days where she took vacation days to write papers. She gave some brilliant advice when she said to plan ahead. Don’t wait to the last minute to do your assignment. Always stay ahead of the game. She spent many lunch hours working on homework and her boss at the time allowed her to work on homework as long as she was done with all of her regular duties.
“Don’t wait to the last minute to do your assignment. Always stay
ahead of the game.”
Weekends were for her family and grandchildren. So when she knew they had something planned she would work day and night through the week. “I would never let school come between me and my time with my grandchildren stated Kim. ” “I set times to work on my homework and did not deter from that.”
I reached out to Janet Kirby who is the Chair/Assistant Professor in Tabor School of Business. I asked Janet how she perceived the student spending their day in this major as well as how she saw the student in this major. “The Organizational Leadership Major provides insight and skills for almost any role in organizations and could be in a coaching role for employee development.”
“The curriculum supports strengthening of knowledge skills and abilities which enable the OL grad to see the whole organization
and understand the interdependent relationships that are critical to successful operation. “
I asked Janet to describe Kim and below is her response:
“Kim Dial as a student took full advantage of the concepts in each course by applying them to current work situations. During the program she changed roles in her organization and showed a great deal of adaptability and creativity as she absorbed the work if a totally different type of department. This change allowed her to apply even more of the knowledge skills and abilities she developed in new and exciting ways. I think that successfully responding to this change gave Kim an increased level of confidence in her own abilities.”
” When students can grow in this manner, I am always amazed at the power of returning to college as a mid-career professional. it allows students to tap into a vast pool of resources developed as an employee and put them to use in new ways. “
Author, Cindy Monkman
Pleasant & Organized Administrative Assistant, Reliable, Loyal, Calendar Guru, Efficient Money Manager, Event Planner, Customer Service Master, Typist Extraordinaire