Welcome to the class of 2023. We are happy that you have decided to complete your academic journey with us by obtaining your bachelor’s in Business Administration (BBA). This quarter the Business department welcomes Amanda Davis, Kelcie Denny Schwartz, Abigail Asher, Salli Flannery, Rashawn Armstrong, Laura Segrist, and Rachel Merkel back from recently obtaining their Associate of Applied Science in Business. This cohort began when several of the Associate in Business grads met at graduation and decided to continue on together.
Earning a bachelor’s degree is simple once you have obtained your associate degree. Beckfield College offers a two-year AABSA program that is completely online. The BBA is one of the few degrees offered at Beckfield, where you can take two years of the program and fully transfer it into the BBA program. Earning a bachelor’s degree allows you to work for fortune five hundred companies, work in management roles, non-profit organizations, business analysts, and much more.
Each one of the students in this cohort has a unique story that brought them back to complete the second half of their degree. Check out below their personal journey to getting to where they are now!
Amanda Davis
I am back to obtain my bachelor’s degree after graduating from Beckfield in 2012. I have not been in school in 10 years, so this is a culture shock. I am a mother to 5, a wife, and I work full time for a Bank. My job is quite demanding, and I travel one week a month out of state for onsite visits. Balancing work, home, and my education are pretty difficult; however, anything worth achieving is. In addition to work, school, and family, I also assist local groups with financial education and am on the board of a for-profit company based in Cincinnati, Ohio. I decided to pursue my degree after a decade to fulfill my promise. I am blessed in life and in my career. The decision to come back was to complete something I started long ago.
Kelcie Schwartz
My experience with the associate program was wonderful! The professors at Beckfield truly have your success as their top priority. There have been instances where professors have worked with me to help me get through a tough semester when I fell behind. I knew I wanted to get my bachelor’s eventually, but a part of me thought about taking a break in between degrees. Dr. Okere reached out to me (she is amazing) and told me about a scholarship program and how having my bachelor’s would open up many doors for me. I am very happy with my decision to stay in school, even though work/school balance is difficult. Staying organized and making sure I batch time for school is critical.
Abigail Asher
The associate’s program at Beckfield has been amazing for me. I applied back in December of 2019 and started in January 2020 and graduated in December of 2021. The time went by so quickly. The part that made me nervous going in was that I was entirely online. After a few semesters of trying it out, I enjoyed it. My professors were available at my fingertips, and they were always very understanding about life happening. All they asked for was communication.
I decided to come back because I didn’t feel I was done learning. After hearing the speaker at our graduation, she told us that your whole life is full of education, and you are never too old to learn. I had the opportunity to get financial aid to cover my education, which was another plus. I am working a full-time position at DMG remotely. I am able to stay at home for work and school. Sometimes, it can be hard to separate work, school, and home life even though they are all in the exact location.
Nevertheless, the people I surround myself with allow me to keep going. I am so excited to see what the future has in store for me at Beckfield. I am in my first semester, and my journey to obtain my bachelor’s is excellent so far!
Rachel Merkel
When I was attending Beckfield college; to obtain my associate’s degree, I learned a lot of information that will help me along the way. I learned about creating spreadsheets, using excel, the history behind the business, and what it takes to become a successful business owner. I also learned what responsibilities come with being part of the management team of a big corporation and its companies. I learned many helpful tools that I can see myself applying to my life in the future.
I chose to come back to Beckfield to learn even more information. Also, when it comes to having a job that I love versus a job that I am just ok with, I feel that having a bachelor’s degree will help me accomplish that. With an associate’s, there are plenty of companies that will hire me, yes. However, if I go in with my bachelor’s degree there are way more companies that will offer me the type of position I am looking for. An associate’s degree is a great accomplishment. I could not have been prouder of myself for earning it. However, a bachelor’s degree opens up my opportunities and allows me to show how invested I am in this field. Currently, I am not employed. I was working the entire time I was in school during my associates. Right now, I have been focusing on my family and my school work. When the right job opportunity arises, I will go back to work.
I managed my time by designating off days to my school work when I worked. At times, I struggled with sticking with that plan because things would come up, life would happen. Still, that was the best way for me to make time for my school work, in between raising my family and going to work. I take my education very seriously and I plan to do my best so that I can become the person I want to be when it is all said and done.
Rashawn Armstrong
I am so excited to be back to complete the Bachelor’s program! In the beginning, it was tough to complete the associate’s program. I was going through a lot, and it took me a lot longer to get done, but I did it. The instructors were/are so great! I came back to get my bachelor’s because I always want more in life. I also was offered a chance at a scholarship, and I could not pass that by.
I am currently working at Meadowbrook Care Center as a Nutrition Aide. I would like to start my own business, and I am working on how to go about starting. I am also a mother of four, and juggling everything can be overwhelming and stressful. Nevertheless, when you love something or someone so much, you’ll do whatever it takes to get the job done. I am glad I chose Beckfield and further my education.
Laura Segrist
I enjoyed taking classes while earning my Associate’s Degree. One class that I enjoyed was Integrated Business Simulations, in this course we were tasked with using a business simulation to make a profit for an organization utilizing all departments that make up a business. It was a challenge to complete while having the distraction of my children, but that made it better. I enjoy meeting a challenge, and right now, I do not have many of those that are not related to being a mom.
I decided to come back and work towards a bachelor’s degree to gain more experience to help find a suitable position within a company. I wanted to start on my Bachelor’s right away after finishing my associate’s. I am a full-time mom and run a daycare full-time as well. I hope that I can move forward with a company and get away from doing daycare with this degree.
Salli Flannery
While obtaining my associate’s degree with Beckfield I found the instructors to be very accommodating to my business schedule. I attended classes online only which had flexible schedules and allowed me to be in contact with the instructor easily.
I started working at Citibank 13 years ago, at the age of 19, and Beckfield at that time but life, as it normally does, took me down a different road and I became a mother. At that time, I decided to focus on working and moving up within the business, which I did. At the age of 27, I was a senior officer at the bank and was able to advance as far as I could without a degree. My goal when returning to school was to get my Bachelor’s, after obtaining my associate’s degree and having such a positive experience it was a natural choice to return to Beckfield.
If you are interested in pursuing an associate degree in business and interested in going to school online, then Beckfield College may be a great place for you! Give us a call at 859-731-9393 or send an email to info@beckfieled.edu to request more information.