By John Anderson
I was in my late twenties when I realized I wanted to do more than what I was doing. So I made the decision to get my associate’s degree in Business Administration at Stanly Community College. After receiving my Associate’s Degree, I was inspired to complete my 4-year education, so I transferred to Pfeiffer University, where I earned my bachelor’s degree. From there, I went on to earn my MBA from Pfeiffer University.
Despite my academic success, my career as a non-traditional student was certainly far from easy. At times, it was truly grueling because I had so much on my plate. I was older, already in the workforce, and I had a family, so I was constantly juggling being a father with my work and studies, which wasn’t easy.
The most challenging aspect was time management. If I didn’t have time management, my life would have been in chaos. I had regular classes during the day, and I would work at night, either the second or third shift and sometimes on the weekends. There were times I even had multiple jobs. Because I had to be in class at certain times and work at other times, I could never wait until the last minute to do my work. I couldn’t procrastinate. I had to be very responsible. Often, when traditional students go to college, they tend to be a bit lackadaisical, but I had real-world issues and real bills to pay, so I didn’t have that luxury.
My tight schedule made studying and attending office hours with professors more challenging. I was always working when I wasn’t in class, so study time was limited. And that’s when study guides and other resources come into play. I used Chegg to access different study guides and materials that made writing essays easier and made proofreading more manageable. These resources made studying more efficient and less time-consuming. I didn’t have to spend as much time looking things up or proofreading papers, which made time management simpler and studying less grueling.
Pursuing higher education and earning my degrees were priceless because I’ve been able to apply the things I learned in the real world. I’ve taken the knowledge I gained and used it to implement strategies to do business, enter into business, exit out of businesses, and transition into new businesses. I’m an entrepreneur. I have a mobile home transport company, a clothing line, a self-published poetry book, and I also just started a nonprofit that mentors at-risk youth and helps with financial literacy. We try to get kids to focus on positive things and facilitate skills and resources for communities in need. So I’ve definitely taken what I learned in school, and I’ve applied it to the real world and to what I’m doing today.
Having resources like Chegg available to me while I was in school helped me manage my workload and many responsibilities and allowed me to take full advantage of my academic experience. When you tap into the resources that are available to you, the sky’s the limit.
