Carol Platt was caught in the middle of the economic downturn with no backup plan. Searching for a stable job in an unstable economy proved to be difficult without a college degree. Her work history and past successes were overlooked. It had always been a dream of hers to complete her degree; after a failed first attempt, she was unsure of her ability to follow through. She began researching online education options and felt that Kaplan University stood out; she decided to complete her college degree online. Carol enrolled in Kaplan University’s School of Business and Management and earned her bachelor’s degree online, focusing on business with an emphasis in human resources.
The adult continuing education program at Kaplan University is designed for working professionals who seek to further their career or, like Carol, want to earn their university degree online.* Students can complete assignments on a schedule that fits their lives. It’s this type of flexibility that helps prepare Kaplan University online students for success. Even if you already have an established career, it’s never too late to consider online business school to further your knowledge and update your skills. Increase your marketability with one of Kaplan University’s online bachelor degree programs without taking time off of work to attend class.
* Kaplan University's programs are designed to prepare graduates to pursue employment in their field of study, or in related fields. However, the University does not guarantee that graduates will be placed in any particular job, eligible for job advancement opportunities, or employed at all. Additional training or certification may be required.
“I grew up in Graham, North Carolina. My parents both worked for the textile mills, both had fourth grade educations and my mom always wanted me to get an education. When I graduated from high school it was my dream to go to college. I failed the first class of my life which was my chemistry class. I was just overwhelmed so I left after about a year and half, got a job and kept trying to go back to school. For me it was personally devastating. It really bothered me. I felt like I was failing. I had one shot and I blew it.
When Jenna left for boarding school I couldn’t even open the door and go in the room and I was almost 52. All of that coincided with the downturn of the market. I had almost $6 million dollars in contracts waiting to close and they all fell through—every single one of them. I thought, ‘now what? I don’t have a degree, there are no jobs.’ It doesn’t matter what I had done or how much success I had, the requirements are to have a degree. Not only that, I had to walk back in the door competing with people half my age and many of them had MBAs.
It was just a matter of figuring out how to do it—so that’s when I started to check into what were the institutions, what was the cost, how were they respected. Kaplan [University] had a degree in business with a specialty in human resources. As I started narrowing the options down, it made it into about the final three. I took those three finalists to my traditional education friends and I said, ‘I want to know what the most respected online degree would be if someone was coming into your office looking for a job.’
The IT Dean, the Computer Science Dean, felt like Kaplan [University] had the best online delivery program that was out there. The Academic Dean’s advice was that this is a respected degree that you’re not going to have people questioning whether you were competent when you came out. Everything that you take there will be accepted if you go on to a master’s [program] anywhere so that was a very good recommendation. When I sat down at graduation, 31 years later, and I’m looking up at the podium and it says, ‘Kaplan University: a Different School of Thought’ that was probably more me because I do think a little differently. I’m willing to work on things that innovate and I think that’s more of an opportunity for me and many students like me.~N
Kaplan University presents Visionary Voices, a series of interviews that chronicle our goals in regards to adult education and continuing education throughout your life. Kaplan University offers online degree programs designed to expand the way you think and help you develop both personally and professionally. Students turn to us to develop their critical thinking skills, to challenge and prepare them for successful careers.*
At Kaplan University, we recommend that students look for support and encouragement in those around them. This journey is one that requires commitment and dedication and finding mentors along the way helps to keep students motivated. We want to encourage our students to try new things, to take a variety of courses to help ensure they are well-rounded and prepared when they complete their online college degree.
We are an accredited university that believes online courses can enrich your life just as much as attending a course in a brick and mortar classroom.† Our unique approach to distance learning sets us apart from other online colleges. At Kaplan University, we strive to make every resource available to our students to help them succeed in the field they choose.
*Kaplan University's programs are designed to prepare graduates to pursue employment in their field of study, or in related fields. However, the University does not guarantee that graduates will be placed in any particular job, eligible for job advancement opportunities, or employed at all. Additional training or certification may be required.
†Kaplan University is regionally accredited. See our website for details.
“I want to learn from someone who has really been there. I want access to the best minds in the world, access to real leadership. I want to be inspired by people who are inspired, someone who understands the passion and the hunger to create; inspire me. I want to learn from someone who made a difference, from somebody who tried something new and succeeded at it, who broke the rules and are breaking new ground. I want to learn how to make decisions that will make a difference.
The world’s preeminent innovators, a timeless exchange of ideas from established experts to aspiring new candidates, a new form for this inspiration is here, at Kaplan University.
Until Kaplan [University] and comparable schools did their instruction online, there really hasn’t been appreciable disruption in higher education.
If I were to have any advice for a Kaplan University student thinking about an entrepreneurial career path, I would say don’t be afraid to fail.
What you want to do is to acquire the habit of trying new things. There’s a saying that you’re only as young as the last time you changed your mind.
Finding that right balance between your needs and your profession and your own growth is always something that is evolving.
One of the principals I teach is find a wing to climb under and what that means is you need to find someone in your life who can mentor you through different stages of your life.
Kaplan [University] provides access to powerful ideas from brilliant thinkers, the practical intelligence and inspiration that are vital to success today and critical for a brighter future.
I want to think on a different level. I want to be provoked by original ideas; I want to have a hand in my destiny.
I always tell young people, ‘finish your education and don’t rush.’
You actually need education more than you need money. You need ideas, you need to know how to teach yourself, you need to know how things work, you need to be able to look around you and see combinations that other people haven’t seen before.
For a Kaplan [University] student thinking about, or interested in, being an innovator I would often say, ‘take a wide range of classes.’ We too quickly pigeon hole people. Reality is that we’re all capable of being so many things.
My advice is be broad, understand that things change quickly, and understand what’s happening
Lisa Nichols, contributing author of The Secret and one of the great inspirational speakers of our time, believes the best way to stay motivated when continuing your education is to “begin with the end in mind.” Pushing forward through challenges is what makes accomplishment so gratifying. Every accomplishment leads to personal growth. Nichols believes that making the completion of your degree “non-negotiable” means that you will not settle for anything less.
Kaplan University’s online degree programs cater to the busy lifestyle of today’s working professional. The distance learning programs available at Kaplan University could help you further your career, potentially lead to advancement opportunities, and assist in creating a different lifestyle for you and your family.* Nichols relates her own life experiences as a single mother working full time in this inspirational video that address the challenges Kaplan University students may be facing. She encourages students to recognize how important pursuing a degree can be to their professional success. Perhaps one of the most powerful messages Nichols relays is to focus on the positive outcome continuing education can bring. She urges students to “stay motivated by not checking into how difficult it might be” but to “check in with how sweet it gets to be.”
*Kaplan University's programs are designed to prepare graduates to pursue employment in their field of study, or in related fields. However, the University does not guarantee that graduates will be placed in any particular job, eligible for job advancement opportunities, or employed at all. Additional training or certification may be required.
“I would say to a Kaplan [University] student, ‘You’ve really made a decision to take your life by the reigns, to give yourself a second, third, fourth, fifth chance. That this season is your season and that you’ve served everyone else and this gift is a gift for you.’ When you serve yourself you allow yourself to then begin to serve everyone else from your overflow. But one of the things I would mainly say is that when you’ve been good to you, this is a gift, when you’ve been good to you then you’ll serve with more gratitude to everyone else so hold on to this. Hold on to this moment; carve out time. There’s never enough time. There are a hundred people that are going to pull at you- carve out this space for you. Say, ‘You know what? I’ve nurtured everyone, I’ve served everyone, this is my moment. This is my time to shine. This journey with Kaplan [University] is super important to me and it’s non-negotiable.’
When you say ‘no matter what,’ graduating should be ‘no matter what.’ ‘No matter what’ means I’ve removed every other option off the table. Graduating and taking advantage of this opportunity is something that nothing else can happen but this; this is non-negotiable. When you move everything else off the table other than making it, the only thing left is making it and so I would say to the Kaplan [University] student, ‘you’ve already jumped in, now say ‘no matter what’.’
I think one of the ways to stay motivated is to begin with the end in mind. See yourself on graduation day, see yourself with a certificate saying, ‘I completed. I did it. It’s done.’ See yourself in the lifestyle that this accomplishment will award you to have. When you being with the end in mind and you get so viscerally and emotionally connected to the outcome. Steven Covey, the author of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, says, ‘Begin with the end in mind.’ See it, believe it, taste it, walk it, talk it, feel it and then go every day just getting to that feeling in reality. Have such a barometer to show you where you’re going and know what it looks like to be there and then become non-negotiable on it.
Stay motivated by not checking into how difficult it might be, check in with how sweet it gets to be. I believe that my life today is a result of hunkering down and seeing myself in a place where I wasn’t; seeing myself in a lifestyle th
Carol Baldwin-Moody of Wilmington Trust describes the challenges that are present in her line of work as senior vice president and chief risk officer. There is a strong legal backing to every major issue in today’s society. Baldwin-Moody has come across several scenarios that aren’t covered by the dated constitutional law in effect today. In past years, a risk officer was thought to be a management concept that would be useful, but not worth the investment. Lately, a risk officer career has become an indispensible resource in the corporate world.
The law plays an important role in every aspect of our lives. Even something that seems simple, like the ability to send a text message and donate money to a charitable organization, requires contract law to come into play. If a career as a compliance officer is of interest to you, an online legal studies degree from Kaplan University could be the first step in working toward that goal.* A legal studies degree allows students the unique opportunity to grow into a field that is constantly changing and evolving.
*Kaplan University's programs are designed to prepare graduates to pursue employment in their field of study, or in related fields. However, the University does not guarantee that graduates will be placed in any particular job, eligible for job advancement opportunities, or employed at all. Additional training or certification may be required.
“Social media, the first amendment, privacy; the law is so far behind in that trend. Blogs and all of that, that is a constant challenge for me today because everybody wants to talk the way they want to talk and in my job, I’m required to actually surveil peoples’ e-mails; I’m required by law. I look for certain words; well, that was ok when people used words. Now when they use ‘r u,’ I can’t surveil that. The privacy issue with kids and MySpace, that whole area of law, think about it; constitutional law was what we learned. There’s nothing in constitutional law that we learned 30 years ago, so if you’re into that, there’s going to be a lot of time. We need that because it’s evolutionary.
Globalization—if you think about what happened in the financial markets, the meltdown, it’s because there’s so much connection and therefore there are a lot of things going on in that arena where every country’s financial rules, they’re looking at them and comparing them. That’s another area- comparative law. Comparative law when it comes to the environment and financial services; those are two big things.
Health—the whole health debate; you may be thinking just about the politics but there’s a lot of law behind that. HIPA, all those rights, and think about the things they’re talking about from a political perspective—there’s a lot of law behind that.
Those are just three areas that are not only specific in terms of thinking outside of the box, but they actually go back to a lot of the fundamentals that are part of the law. Those are just three; that social media one, I don’t even want to tackle that one; I’m assigning that to my kids. Just think about it—it’s out there before anything has been screened. You think about the things that go on—it’s called the social media. There used to be the 6 o’clock news; there’s the 24 hour news, there’s the instant news now.
I think some of it’s great, I think some of the positive things about the technology, I just learned this, the fact that you could text five digits on your phone and the money was in Haiti instantly. But, a lot of people don’t realize how much legal work was behind the contractual agreement between the phone companies. There was a lot of legal work that was done in order for that to happen but yet young people, my daughter was one of them, it’s like, ‘ok mom,’ and then I start thinking; well I know what really happened. They had to get into a contract about that, but those are the kinds of things that at the end you see the result is phenomenal. Think about that 20 years ago—could not have happened.”
BeautifulPeople.com, the dating community exclusively for good-looking people, has launched “REALLY?” a 90 second movie in response to a sustained assault on the site’s concept.
Since BeautifulPeople.com launched in 2002, the dating site which is founded on the principle that everyone wants to be with someone they are attracted to, has come under fire for being prejudiced, unfair, and even for misunderstanding human nature. In the words of renowned social psychologist Dr Cliff Arnall, former lecturer and researcher at Cardiff University, it has been “lambasted for telling the truth.”
To view Multimedia News Release, go tohttp://www.multivu.com/mnr/50277-beautifulpeople-com-really-movie-good-looks-not-important-ugly-truth
After six days touring Tuscany in July, DaVinci is proud to debut the final works of four Storytellers who were selected to join the Italian wine brand in Italy for a look at the authentic people and place behind its wine. The art, recipes, narrative and video have been unveiled at Facebook.com/DaVinciWine.
To view Multimedia News Release, go to http://www.multivu.com/mnr/52528-davinci-wine-2011-storyteller-experience
Jumping the gap and landing in London, the winner of the 4th prestigious Roca Jump the Gap competition will be announced on Thursday 3rd November at the recently opened Roca London Gallery, designed by Zaha Hadid Architects.
This competition has once again captivated the hearts minds of young designers across the world and has had an all time record entry. The top design talent of tomorrow has been battling it out for the title of bathroom innovator of the year and of course the 5,000 euro prize money.
To view Multimedia News Release, go to http://multivu.prnewswire.com/mnr/prne/roca/52770/
When a harrowing honeymoon experience resulted in an emergency surgery for her new husband, Rebecca Fischer morphed into the ultimate travel hero, identifying resources to help save his life, all while the two were halfway around the world. Thanks to her heroics, Rebecca, of Dallas, Tex., has been awarded a $10,000 “Hero’s Vacation” in Travel Guard North America’s (www.TravelGuard.com) World’s Unluckiest Traveler 2: The Rescue contest.
To view Multimedia News Release, go to http://www.multivu.com/mnr/53287-travel-guard-north-america-winner-unluckiest-traveler-2-the-rescue
They’ve been dubbed the “Sandwich Generation”–middle-aged people caring for aging parents while still taking care of their own children. Pulled in many directions, these family jugglers are at risk for stress, depression and other health problems. Older adults are the fastest growing segment of the U.S. population; 10,000 people turn 65 every day. This will continue for nearly 20 years, and that means more and more people will find themselves aiding their aging parents.
Throughout November, which is National Family Caregiver Month, BeSmartBeWell.com sheds light on the challenges of caregiving and the particular issues facing the Sandwich Generation. At BeSmartBeWell.com, siblings Chris and Ann share their story of juggling jobs, family and caring for elderly parents.
To view Multimedia News Release, go to http://multivu.prnewswire.com/mnr/caregivingparents/50827/
As the season turns from fall to winter, many holiday displays replace pop-up flu vaccine clinics. Yet flu season is not over — it has barely begun. In the 35 years that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has monitored influenza, February has been the most common month for peak flu activity, including during the 2010-2011 flu season. To share this important information and educate families around the country, Families Fighting Flu is joining the CDC once again during the annual National Influenza Vaccination Week (NIVW) — an observance to promote the importance of flu vaccination as the single best preventative measure against this disease.
To view Multimedia News Release, go to http://www.multivu.com/mnr/52236-families-fighting-flu-psa-flu-survivor-luke-duvall-flu-prevention
adidas today unveiled the new adipure Trainer in India, the first barefoot training shoe designed specifically for the gym. Promoting pure and natural movement by harnessing the body’s natural mechanics, the adipure Trainer activates and strengthens muscles, builds balance and promotes dexter-ity.
The adiPure Trainer has been developed by combining the benefits of barefoot training with path breaking design innovations to activate and strengthen muscles in the lower body. Unlike regular training footwear, the minimalistic design of the adiPure Trainer allows unrestricted natural motion and builds balance, foot strength and dexterity preventing chances of injury in the long run.
To view Multimedia News Release, go to http://multivu.prnewswire.com/mnr/prne/adidas/52799/
Alcatel-Lucent (Euronext Paris and NYSE: ALU) today announced a major advance to its global leadership in 100G optical networking by introducing a breakthrough in single-carrier coherent technology that will extend optical signals over distances far greater than has been possible before, even over poor quality fiber. This latest addition to the company’s portfolio is designed to enhance the ability of communications service providers to address exploding demand for high-bandwidth services like video and fixed and mobile broadband.
To view Multimedia News Release, go to http://www.multivu.com/mnr/53498-alcatel-lucent-expands-100g
