By Liz Briggs, January 2, 2020 — After graduating from high school, I worked at a publishing company. Basically, I just continued on there only because I was assigned there during my senior year of high school in the cooperative education program.
It was a “dead beat” job and I yearned for more, not to mention an increase of salary. This was a time when most teens were trying to find where they would go with their future, how they would get there, and what to do to make it happen. I was no different.
Let me fast forward. One day I was walking down the street and I met an old friend. We chatted for a few minutes as I complained about finding a new job that was more fulfilling. As we parked, she yelled out, “Try Temple University! They are taking applications. The office is on Broad and Columbia.” Before the end of the week, I made my way there, filled out an application, selected a position from the postings, took a basic aptitude and typing test, interviewed, and waited for a call. Several weeks later I began working for the university as a full-time secretary in the Department of Vocational Education.
I kept working my way up to more secretarial positions but was never quite satisfied. I knew that there was more for me. Over and over again I plotted on how I would attend school and take advantage of the free tuition. It couldn’t work, especially since I had a two-year-old that my mother cared for during the day and I was so tired by the end of the day from work.
One day sitting at my desk, I picked up the campus newspaper and saw an announcement of a new program for non-traditional students to apply for admissions into a 4-year baccalaureate program. I was accepted, quit my job and that was the beginning of a brand new life.