My boss saw that I had the ability to go to school and she stuck her neck out and put her faith in me so that I could move up. I definitely was not your traditional student. My kids were old enough to attend college when I started. And it was a challenge in that I needed income, I had to feed my kids, I had to keep a roof over their head. And that’s where the [tuition assistance] grants and the programs that I was involved in were huge. I would not be where I am today if I didn’t have those opportunities. I wouldn’t have been able to afford it on my own.
I am very proud of what I have accomplished, but the bigger path in my mind is that my kids have seen me succeed, so I encourage them to succeed, and now my daughter is in nursing school. She’s also utilizing grants and funding, and she realizes that she can do this herself too. And my son works in manufacturing, and he’s looking at, “Hey Mom, someday I might be a supervisor.” I think that’s the biggest thing I’m proud of, is that my family has seen me succeed and that they feel that they can do so.
Sue is a quality lead at Wyoming Machine in Minnesota.
