Bakersfield Life

All > Community
Education Is The Key To Success
Topics:
Anonymous user Tue Nov 30, 1999 00:00:00 PST
Viewed 602 times
0 responses 0 comments Once upon a time, going to college wasn’t an option for everyone. Through the years education has become more attainable for aspiring students who want to better their professional careers. Having a diploma not only opens doors, but also it can give the future leaders of tomorrow a newly boosted level of self-esteem. Regardless of age or career goals, a degree has become a key component to future success.
    Kathryn Lomely is a Cal State Bakersfield graduate and if you ask her, she’d tell you she couldn’t have imagined going to school anywhere else. In fact, her experience at Cal State and her continuous work in inspiring today’s youth to explore the options and advantages of having a degree has become her life’s passion, leading to a career as an academic advisor for the University of La Verne.
    “I love when a student comes in, finishes their degree, and changes his or her direction in life,” Lomely says. “These graduates get new jobs, their kids see them walk across the stage, and it becomes a family affair. It is awesome to see how truly rewarding it is in the end. My family encouraged me to pursue higher education. It really became a dream of mine the first time I stepped foot on a college campus early in high school.”
    Being an academic advisor, Lomely says there is great importance in obtaining a degree in order to open up the door to a successful career.
    “It has been estimated that jobs requiring higher education will grow by 22 percent between 2002 and 2012, which is nearly double the rate of non-college jobs,” she says. “With that, higher education helps to get your foot in the door and get that raise. Some jobs require a minimum of a bachelor’s degree while others require some community college experience in addition to experience in the field.”
    She adds, some employers give pay increases to their employees for courses taken at a college or university, which is a great incentive to continue in higher education. “I also know that a few employers will even pay you to go back to school and get a degree by providing reimbursement programs which cut down on the excuses of why not to go back to school,” she says.
    For Michael Parugrug, pursuing higher education wasn’t just something to do; he saw receiving a diploma as the ultimate golden ticket to a fruitful career. A Highland High School graduate, Parugrug attended Bakersfield College for a short while as he stumbled through the options of various career paths. However, he said it was his work at the Boys and Girls Club of Kern County that motivated him to take his career and academic future more seriously.
    As the nonprofit’s Resource Development Assistant, Parugrug found a deep-seated passion to bettering the lives of children through education. After enrolling at Fresno Pacific University in the fall of 2006, he decided in order to make a difference he would become a Liberal Arts major with the goal of becoming a third or fourth grade teacher.
    The University offers accelerated courses so that there is no “busy work,” and every class counts, so ditching is not an option. Fresno Pacific University is housed in downtown Bakersfield next to the Bank of America building. Another determining factor for Parugrug choosing Fresno Pacific University was its strong faith-based foundation.
    With a graduation date set for 2009, Parugrug says he couldn’t imagine his life being any better now that he has set his sights on the advantages of obtaining a diploma.
    “I think having my degree in my hand is not only going to be the best feeling of accomplishment but it will open up several doors for careers,” he says. “Everyone wants a dream job that will financially support them and make them happy in life. But I want more than that – I want to make an impact on the community and the students I will teach one day.”
    Although Bakersfield doesn’t have its own University of California campus, it is home to University of California, Merced’s satellite school that focuses on students interested in pursuing a future in technical and science-related fields. 
    “UC Merced is a small program with individual attention to students,” says Frank Ramirez, head of recruitment for UC Merced, Bakersfield. Summer 2007 marks the first year the extension campus has been able to offer summer school courses.  The courses give students the opportunity to continue their course work without having to travel to Merced.
    “I wanted to stay in the Valley for the next step in my education, and I want to be near my family. UC Merced has been perfect, and the Bakersfield extension is helping me complete my double major in four years,” says Mayra Chavez, a junior studying Political Science and Spanish. Raised in Delano and a graduate of Delano High School, Chavez aspires to be a college professor and plans on getting her master’s or Ph.D. in political science. She currently has two academic scholarships through UC Merced.
    This summer, Chavez was able to take courses in personality psychology and political science while living with her parents. Chavez was impressed with her courses being “beamed in” from classrooms on the UC Merced campus. This technology allows students to sit in a Bakersfield classroom in front of a large video screen, learning from a professor hundreds of miles away. When Chavez has a question or comment she pushes a green button, which turns a camera on in her classroom and allows her to interact with the professor.
    “I think of those days and the times going through college. It was a life-changing experience.  It had its ups and downs, a sort of love-hate relationship,” Lomely says. “You love to learn, meet new people, and have new experiences but you dread finals and grades. In the end, I was the first to finish college in my family.  I have since finished my bachelor’s degree, a master’s degree, and now I am pursuing a doctorate degree. I stayed in the education field because I had a great experience and I see it as an opportunity to grow. I believe you will get out of your higher education experience, what you make out of it.”

Send to a Friend

Report a Violation