Early Employment and Training

 My second job after graduating from college with a BA in English was as the Executive Director of the Alamance County Arts Council in Graham, NC.  Before that, I was Director of Product Efficacy for a microbiological media manufacturer, which amazed me because that had very little to do with an English degree.

I worked for the Arts Council for 7/8 years before moving onto a community college where I designed training programs for businesses and industry.  A local Alamance Country artist did the above caricature for me as a logo to be used when I wrote articles for the local newspaper on the Arts.  I have always liked the caricature and have used it from time to time when I write.

While employed at the Arts Council, I realized that I did not have the skills, training, or expertise to manage the organization like it should be managed, so with the approval of the Board of Directors, I enrolled in an MBA program where I attended classes (fulltime) every Friday and Saturday at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, NC.

It was a difficult two years for me because my background was not in business, so I had to learn the basics of a business degree while at the same time learn the advanced, more in depth concepts of that business degree.

The class had been designed for mid-level managers who had been in the business field for a minimum of ten years.  To this day, I am still amazed as to why I was allowed to enter the program.

I had to pass 68 hours of classes, fifteen hours each semester and six hours during the summer.  We were given 2 hours of credit for working in the field of business.

Today, you can earn an MBA with only 30 hours of classes.  From my perspective, it seems the education process has been watered down, so the colleges and universities can generate more revenues.

By attending this MBA program, my political views changed from being LIBERAL to being CONSERVATIVE which in my opinion was being more BUSINESS-LIKE in my thoughts, directions, and behaviors.

There are some liberal views that I still hang onto like...  I DO NOT WANT THE GOVERNMENT TELLING ME WHAT TO DO, WHEN TO DO IT, AND HOW TO DO IT...  consequently, I believe in the right of choice for the female when it comes to abortion.  However, it does not belong in the prevue of the Federal Government to enforce this - that is not their role.  It belongs to the states.

I also believe that our federal government has the responsibility to take care of and protect its citizens as long as it has the money to do so - it should not go into debt in order to achieve this goal.  Everyone should pay their fair share of taxes, no exceptions, no exclusions, and no ability to shelter money away from taxes. 

One important aspect of knowledge that I learned from my MBA training is that there will always be:

• winners/losers
• management/labor
• wealthy/poor

This is especially true in a capitalistic society that focuses on the free-market enterprise system.  And tariffs to protect American business is also BAD, because it always American businesses not to product quality because of that protection.

The most important aspect of my MBA education and training was that it taught me to plan well for the future, be flexible in that planning as life is about change and have contingency plans for unintended consequences.  Happiness is not about WEALTH - POWER - POSITION - INFLUENCE, it is about accepting what you have, being appreciative of what you have, showing gratitude with what you have and doing your very best each day that involves taking care of others as best as you can.

Those who are in it for the money have missed the point about life and living life to its fullest.