When I was 30 years old, I decided to leave my job as a sales representative and go back to school to learn more about advertising, marketing, and entrepreneurship. Historically, I had been a poor student, so I knew I needed to learn about something that interested me, but also challenged me. I will never forget my first Monday morning back at school. Students a lot younger than me were taking the same fundamental math course and I definitely thought to myself, “What did I just do?”
Lessons From The Classroom & Beyond
Being in school taught me so much more than I expected. Even though I had 10 years worth of experience developing a small business going into school, nothing could compare to learning in a classroom. Not only did I learn new slang from these kids who were far younger than me, but I taught myself how to succeed in school. One of the most important things I learned was how to make the most of my learning experience. Under the right kind of leadership or with the right kind of teacher, you can grow in ways that will surprise you. It was easily one of the best decisions I’ve made in my life.
An Internship & A Healthy Dose Of Intimidation
As the semester slowly creeps to a close, I’m fortunate to say that I have landed a job within SupportNinja’s marketing department. If you would have told me that I was going to land a job that would require skills in excel and involve a good level of math, I wouldn’t have believed it.
However, through personal and professional development, SupportNinja allowed me to understand how to perform important marketing analysis. Now my team and I can better understand how we can optimize our business practices. What really helped me was a healthy dose of intimidation alongside a motive to learn and develop. It taught me that good teaching and good leadership can instill real value through professional and personal development within the workplace.
So, What’s The Point?
As I’ve noted, one of the core values at SupportNinja is “Improve Everyday”, which speaks to the importance of exercising your brain and challenging yourself. It helps out a lot professionally, and personally. Although it can be difficult, it is ultimately rewarding.
It took a lot of support, hard work, and dedication, but I am happy to say that I will graduate from the University of North Texas this December with a degree and job in hand.