Ivy Tech has been home to me for higher education for most of my life. I am a current student pursuing an accounting degree. I have finished a certificate in business administration and over the summer I finished a technical certificate in business administration. The hours were long and at times I wondered why I decided to go back to school so late in life. The internal questioning, I have put myself through subsides when I look through my unofficial transcript and see the grades I have achieved and the accomplishment I feel in myself.
Education is not something to be taken lightly, as I mentioned in a previous article in the fall of 2022. It is more than the technical knowledge that you gain or the awards that you are given. It is the character that is built along the way. You gain confidence knowing that you can achieve whatever you put your mind to. I have been blessed by also being able to contribute to the Ivy Tech Campus Insider. It is a unique experience and a journey that I can say I am glad I took.
Being the editor has given me the chance to look for the silver lining at every turn and I take and share that with my fellow students. I do not take that for granted. It is a privilege. I am a student who has completed all my classes 100% online and Ivy Tech Campus Insider provides me the opportunity to show my creativity and feel connected. I have been motivated through the long hallways of breaks and the week six grind. If you know, you know.
“Higher Education at the Speed of Life is Ivy Tech Community College’s new strategic plan” (Ellsperman, 2023). For me, this rings so true. As a single mother who is an adult student, earning a degree “at the speed of life” (Ellsperman, 2023) is exactly the right prescription. Being online allows me the flexibility to learn by my schedule. I have been allowed to focus on two classes in eight weeks versus having to focus my attention on four classes in sixteen weeks.
Ivy Tech is focused and committed to student success. When they see you putting in 100% effort, they get behind you and give you the push and motivation to keep moving forward. For the 2023 – 2025 school years, they have developed a new strategic plan with us in mind. They have four goals for the upcoming 2023-2025 years “Goal 1 - Promote effective Teaching and Learning across the college, Goal 2 - Workforce and Careers: Innovate in response to changing employer needs, Goal 3 - Transform the Student Experience to foster student success, and Goal 4 - Maximize Operational Excellence to advance campus- and college-wide initiatives” (2023-2025 Strategic Plan, 2023).
Goal three, for me as a current Ivy Tech, gives me the most motivation to continue my path to success. It is important to be cheered on by the college and know that they want me to succeed as much as I want to succeed. There are so many potential paths to give back and help my peers finish their education and change their lives.
The “Circle of Ivy (Circle of Ivy, 2019) is Ivy Tech’s statewide women’s giving circle. Last year the Indianapolis Circle raised over $39,000 and funded 10 projects to impact our campus! The group mostly consists of community members and employees, but I’d like to provide more of an opportunity for students to take part in the group to network and vote for how they would like to see the funds used on-campus” David Edge, Assistant Director of Alumni Relations, said.
Circle of Ivy (Circle of Ivy, 2019) is one organization where your voice can be heard. As posted previously in the Campus Insider (Ivy Insider, 2023) there are multiple organizations you can get involved in. Brother 2 Brother, Campus Insider, Asian Student Alliance, Student Government Association, Phi Theta Kappa, Student of Organization of Latinos, and many more! Check out Ivy Life (Ivy Tech Student Life, 2023) and get involved, reach out, ask questions, be curious, and never stop learning!
Update from the Phi Theta Kappa Fall conference of 2023:
Welcome to the 2nd eight weeks of the Fall semester of the 2023 school year. I wrote this article in the first eight weeks of this semester, and it has been eating at me to finish since I started it. Circle of Ivy had a meeting a while back in which different organizations around the campus vie for the resources available to fund the functions available to Ivy Tech students.
I am currently sitting at the Phi Theta Kappa conference watching Hocus Pocus with the other members, enjoying the fellowship. My journey at Ivy Tech has been quite a journey. At the conference in the Spring, I was nominated to be the Regional Secretary for Indiana. It was a huge honor, and I enjoyed every second of it. A value I hold dear to myself is to never say something to someone that I am not willing to follow through for myself, I believe you should never stop learning.
What does that mean exactly? The keynote speaker for the event was a man named Marv Fox, Jr who is a purpose coach. It was a very inspiring and motivating speech. I had a very long summer and might have bit off more than I can chew. I will be the first to admit that I am guilty of such practices. Being the Regional Officer for Phi Theta Kappa, the editor for the Campus Insider editor (my main passion), full-time school, full-time work, and being a single mom was a lot. This is my personality, all, or nothing.
Attending college has taught me more than how to interpret an income statement. I have learned how to persevere in one activity or task no matter the hills or valleys. You keep going, show up and work. You commit and you follow through.
I had to step down from the Regional Officer position because I made the commitment to follow through on all the classes that I signed up for. My mother had a terrible fall, and I could not leave my three-year-old boy with her for the weekend as I had originally planned. It was a hard decision and something that I am not proud of, but I will not let the situation pass without finding the silver lining. I showed up to the Fall Conference with the intention to prove to myself that I am a woman of my word. I can see anything through, and I can finish the job at hand.
Being involved in organizations in which you can find your passion is worth every tear shed and hour of sleep missed. It connects your mind to your heart and spirit, as I learned from Marv Fox, Jr. this evening. I hope that every student at Ivy Tech can have the same experiences that I have had. I am grateful for every hill and valley. If I had the chance I would go back and do it the same. If I can encourage one student to get up dust themselves off and keep going, it was all worth the sacrifice.
This is education at the speed of life.
What does this have to do with the Circle of Ivy? It, to me, highlights the importance of foundations that support organizations for students. Without proper funding, these organizations and groups could simply not exist.
“By revolutionizing philanthropy, the Ivy Tech Foundation is a catalyst to generational change, we boldly impact communities and fuel Indiana’s economy” (Circle of Ivy, 2019).
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