Adjunct Assistant Professor, Rader School of Business (MSOE), M.A., Communication Studies (2008)

I enjoyed working as an adjunct instructor at Waukesha County Technical College. But to be considered for a full-time faculty position there, I had to have or be in pursuit of a master's degree.

I thought I'd take one class at a time. I had no intention of leaving my job. But the value of a two-year program made sense to me; it seemed better to learn, then apply, versus learning a bit, applying a bit, learning a bit more, applying a bit more.

With a young family, my choices were limited to the Milwaukee area or online master's degree programs. I chose Marquette because I wanted that classroom interaction, and because of the opportunities there. I was pleasantly surprised to find that every person there—not just the faculty, but also the administrative staff—was truly concerned about each student's welfare. The people there take an individual interest in my achievement.

Since graduating from the M.A. program, I've begun teaching at MSOE. This quarter I’m teaching intro to business and principles of marketing classes. Many of my students are freshmen, an age group that I've worked with previously while a TA at Marquette.

One of the defining features of the grad program within the College of Communication was the freedom to investigate topics that were specific and meaningful to me—and still fell within course objectives.

I came to Marquette to become a better teacher. I earned my M.A. but got so much more.