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Month: September 2019

Grad Spotlight: Katlin Watson

Katlin was one of our first students in our program at Northern Kentucky associated with our financial services partner in 2016.

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Katlin Watson graduated from Northern Kentucky University in 2017 with a degree in product marketing, worked at Education at Work for about a year and was offered a full-time position with the same financial services company she worked with while employed at EAW.

Katlin was one of our first students in our program at Northern Kentucky associated with our financial services partner in 2016. She started her career working on the phones and then worked her way into a full-time financial services role for our partner where she received the opportunity to open up a branch for the company in Pennsylvania.

Katlin says what she liked most about Education at Work was the atmosphere and the fact that she could work an entry-level job while still in school.

She says that for anyone who isn’t a business major that EAW is still a great experience. She sites one of her friends as an example, explaining that her friend was an international studies major who thought she would be doing something completely different than finance. Katlin says that she told her friend how much she liked working at EAW, how they helped her with school, that she made a good hourly wage and how EAW worked around her class schedule.

“She started working here part-time and now she’s excelling at this financial services company,” says Katlin. “She had no idea she was so interested in finance before that.”

Looking Back: The First Education At Work Customer Service Call

We thought we’d take a look back at the history of EAW and see what the first student employee to take a customer service call was up to today.

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In August we celebrated seven years of Education at Work so we thought we’d take a look back at the history of Education at Work and see what the first student employee to take a customer service call at EAW was up to today.

DeAnte Judkins was that first student employee. He worked at EAW for about two years and graduated from the University of Cincinnati with his undergraduate degree in chemistry.

Now DeAnte is in grad school at the University of Cincinnati for chemistry and is studying to be a photo chemist. After DeAnte earns his graduate degree he hopes to start his own industrial company generating chemical products for industrial application.

DeAnte says he had previous call center experience which helped him feel more comfortable when taking the first customer service call at EAW but says that he was still nervous because the amount of people staring at him.

Tuition assistance and the ability to work around his class schedule impacted DeAnte the most. “EAW helped me to pay for school. Before EAW I would have to leave a job and find a new job that would fluctuate around my school schedule because my schedule changed every semester. It was agitation.”

While DeAnte was at EAW he says didn’t have to worry about work interfering with his class schedule.

When asked what he would tell undergrads about Education at Work DeAnte says, “This is a great opportunity for students who have never had any previous work experience because it gives them experience in a professional work environment and helps them learn how to work with others.”

Student Succes: Madi Hendricks

Madi Hendricks, an operations and supply chain major at the University of Utah, found EAW through help from her academic advisor.

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Madi Hendricks, an operations and supply chain major and junior at the University of Utah’s David Eccles School of Business, found Education at Work through help from her academic advisor.

During an academic advising appointment on campus she mentioned to her advisor that she needed a part-time job. Her advisor told her about EAW and recommended that she apply. Since, Madi has been at EAW for almost two years and earned more than $4,400 in tuition assistance. During her first year at EAW, Madi worked for EAW on behalf of a global technology company where she excelled in her customer service role. Eventually, she was given special projects that aligned with her career goals. With these special projects, she was handed more responsibility and was able to take on different tasks. She says that it is through these tasks that she grew professionally.

“I’ve learned how to manage my time better,” says Madi. “This experience taught me how to prioritize and focus on what tasks need to get done at the moment.”

Madi now works for EAW as a client development representative, a role that she says changes day to day, which she mentions she thoroughly enjoys. She's been able to speak to a variety of people and has had several interesting conversations with individuals in her newest role.

When Madi was searching for a part-time job, she had no clue where to start or what she was looking for. “I just wanted to make sure my job would align with my future and goals.”

Madi remarks that she enjoys the problem solving aspect of her past and current EAW position.

“I am thankful for Education at Work and eager for what the future holds for me continuing this journey,” says Madi.

Brothers Pass Education at Work Down Through the Family

Countless Education at Work student employees recommend EAW to classmates, friends and even family members.

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Countless Education at Work student employees recommend EAW to classmates, friends and even family members. Meet three of the Chinyere brothers: Henry Chinyere, Jeffry Chinyere and Tyler Chinyere who have passed EAW down through the family. Henry, the second oldest of four brothers, was the first to mention EAW at the family table. His younger brothers, Tyler and Jeffry, followed suit with the same part-time job opportunity because of the tuition assistance benefit and the ability to work around their class schedules.

The Chinyere household is a family of both medical backgrounds and medical aspirations.

Tyler jokes that the medical field runs in the family. The brothers explain that their parents came from Nigeria to America to work in medicine. Ever since, they say their parents have been sharing their passion of helping people and giving back through the medical field.

Earlier this year, Henry graduated from Arizona State University with a Bachelor of Science in Kinesiology. He’s continuing his studies in the medical field at the University of Arizona and hopes to achieve his M.D. Jeffry and Tyler are also pursuing medical degrees at Arizona State University and, just like their older brother, are working at EAW too.

Both Tyler and Jeffry say that their parents have supported them in whatever degrees they wanted to pursue. Jeffry is fascinated with optometry while Tyler is interested in radiology. Although the younger brothers are busy with their medical studies each mention that they do not feel overwhelmed while working at Education at Work. Tyler and Jeffry remark on how their older brother, Henry, was able to balance both school and work, and they say that this job has taught them valuable lessons.

“It is kind of nice to be learning professional communication skills,'' says Tyler.

Jeffry adds, “Not many people can say they learned something useful while working part-time.”

The tuition assistance aspect of the job is what inspired the three brothers to apply to EAW. The TA that Henry received helped him graduate debt-free. Tyler and Jeffry are also expected to graduate debt-free. “It is such a huge advantage to not having to worry about these extra finances,” says Tyler.

“Not many students get this opportunity,” Jeffry mentions.

Jeffry is finishing up his senior year at ASU. He is expected to graduate in May 2020. One of the things he wishes to accomplish is to travel the world and help others with his optometry background. Tyler is now entering his second year and is expected to graduate in 2023. His goal is to travel the world as well and aid others in any way possible.

“I think why we are so passionate about helping others is because we learned a lot when we lived in Nigeria for a year,” Tyler says. “You learn to not take things for granted such as a washing machine, electricity and you learn to appreciate life more throughout the culture.”

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