Written by Sarah Spang, 2016 Moraine Park graduate
I chose to attend Moraine Park two times in my life for drastically different reasons. The first time in 2008-2009 was because I had just graduated high school with no direction. I wanted to stay local and enroll in a program that suited some of the natural talents I already had, so MPTC’s Office Assistant technical diploma was a great choice for me. After one year of courses and studying, I was able to go into the workforce with the knowledge and confidence I needed to land my first real “adult” job.
In 2014, Moraine Park called to me again when I was at a crossroads in my career, knowing that if I were to grow and make a bigger impact in the business world, my education had to be a priority. It was an extremely tough decision coming back to school, but I was happy to graduate with an Associate Degree in Business Management – Marketing in 2016.
The ability to take all of my courses online was instrumental in keeping my sanity as I was working and staying involved in committees I was part of. If it hadn’t been for the understanding instructors and support staff that answered all of my questions along the way, going back to school would have been a much more difficult process.
Moraine Park first gave me the knowledge I needed to be a competent employee. Going through the Office Assistant program, I was able to learn real-life applicable techniques to be an administrative asset to an office. Every single course I took was able to be utilized after graduation and continually expanded upon as my career progressed.
When the Business Management courses came into my life, not only did they give me knowledge I was able to translate into my current career, I was able to get the confidence boost I needed at that time in my life. Feeling like you’re in a crossroads and not sure where you’re going next is a terrible emotional burden to be handling; however, MPTC’s guidance and assurance that I could handle school again and that I was on the path to a bright future changed all of that for me. I was able to graduate from the program with my head held high and decided to even higher education after that. And even that process was easy as I found an undergraduate school that worked in partnership with MPTC and my credits transferred in smoothly and effortlessly!
I don’t know who I would have been if it hadn’t been for Moraine Park and the times I went through its doors. My first time around, Moraine Park made me an individual with the knowledge to go out into the real world without any worries about my skills. The second time, I was able to graduate with high hopes for myself to keep going and become the best version of myself possible.
When I was younger, I truly didn’t believe in myself. I would have been happy living a mediocre life just getting by. Now, I won’t settle for anything but the best for myself and I have Moraine Park to thank for being instrumental in putting that spark in me.
