I grew up in Clearwater, Kansas, a small town just outside of Wichita. Since my high school graduation, I've moved around quite a bit, trying to find my way. Now, I'm a Web Developer at OU Medicine in Oklahoma City who's living and loving every bit of it.
What do you now do for a living? How did you end up choosing this career path? I began college studying Fashion Design in Southern California. Eventually, I realized the industry wasn't for me, so I began studying Psychology at Wichita State University. As graduation was approaching, the idea of becoming a Psychologist didn't feel right. I wanted more in my career. I wanted a career where I was constantly learning and always being challenged. At the time, I had just started an online business, and since I've always been intrigued by technology & innovation, I thought it only made sense to change my major to Information Networking & Telecommunications. I graduated in the spring of 2016. At the time, I was working in HR & Finance at Airbus Americas Engineering, where I remained for a year, while doing a lot of Web Development side projects, and even a little consulting. In the spring of 2017, I was offered a Web Developer position at Bethel College where I led a team on the full overhaul of their main website. As the project was wrapping up in the summer of 2018, I was ready to move on, so I changed my job status on LinkedIn to ‘actively looking’ and within two days, I had three offers. In late July, I accepted a Web Developer opportunity at OU Medicine, Inc. and in just two weeks, I relocated to Oklahoma City, OK and began my new job.
Why did you choose to attend FHSU? I am a much better learner online. I tried several online programs, but none compared to FHSU’s. I really enjoyed attending FHSU and appreciate how forward-thinking the school was in developing the program.
Tell us about someone at FHSU who has left a lasting impression: I really loved my teacher Angela Walters. She challenged and encouraged me. I liked her unique approach to teaching. It’s something I hadn’t seen in any other professor and is quite hard to explain, but I’ve utilize the learning style I developed from her courses every single day. I don’t know that I ever thanked her, but she really was a fundamental part of my success.
In what ways are you proud to be a Tiger? I didn’t learn about the Tiger Pact till graduation was approaching, but it’s something I framed to display in my office: Tiger Pact I am a tiger. I belong to a strong unique family who strives for greatness and success. I instill integrity and confidence within others as well as myself. I incorporate honesty and responsibility in all that I do. I am the future. To me, it’s such a powerful pact and I feel proud to be a Tiger and an Alumni of Fort Hays State University when my colleagues ask me about it. I tell them, “That’s what I live by”.