As I mentioned on my home page, I spent over twenty years working in the world of Academia. During that time I worked at colleges and universities (public and private, and all of them were nonprofit) until I was hired for a Director position at a for-profit institute back in 2008 that only lasted seven months (ending in April 2009). It was my only foray into the for-profit world of higher education.
After my seven months at the for-profit institute, I started a nationwide search for another student affairs/student services position that ended up spanning several years. Unfortunately, I was unable to find another job in my professional field after an extensive, years long job search, so I am now officially retired from the world of academia.
Prior to my career in higher education which began in my mid-30’s when I went back to college to earn a master’s degree, I had worked since high school in clerical and secretarial positions. At the age of 21, I joined the U.S. Army so I could get the G.I. Bill and go to college when I got out.
The U.S. Army had a two-year enlistment back at that time, so I signed up and went through Basic Training, AIT (Advanced Individual Training), and I was stationed at an Army Depot in South Korea. I went from E-1 to E-4 in rank in one year, and I earned an expert badge firing the M16 (the AR-15 is the civilian counterpart to the M16). Due to my propensity to follow orders and do what I was told (and do it well), my Company Commander in South Korea called me a stract trooper. 🙂 I received an honorable discharge when I got out of the Army, and I started attending college on the G.I. Bill.
The first two years I was in college I attended college full time during the day, and I worked full time as a supply technician at a local hospital on the 3-11 shift while earning my Associates (A.A.) degree which I received in 1979. Upon receiving my A.A. degree, I was promoted to department head secretary at the hospital, and I worked the day shift full time until August 1983.
My mother died in March 1983 at the age of 54 from complications brought on by diabetes which she acquired in her mid-30’s after my parents divorced in the mid-1960’s. I was 30 at the time of Mom’s death, and working as a secretary at the hospital mentioned above. In August 1983, I quit my job and enrolled at a state university to complete a bachelor’s (B.A.) degree which I received in May 1985. During that time I also worked as the editorial secretary for a professional journal located at that state university. I continued to work in secretarial positions until January 1990 when I went back to that state university, and I earned a master’s (M.S.) degree in Higher Education/Student Personnel Services in August 1991. It was during that time that I had my first professional staff position in the area of Student Affairs/Student Services (a graduate assistantship) as the Graduate Student Orientation Coordinator.
In 1992, I was awarded a one-year Doctoral Fellowship in Higher Education/Adult Education at a private university in another state for the 1992-93 academic year, and I completed all the requirements with the exception of the dissertation for a doctorate (Ed.D.) in Adult Education in 1993. I worked at colleges/universities from 1983-85, and in professional career positions from 1990-2009 when I lost that job mentioned above in April 2009.
My dad and stepmother were married in 1979, and my stepmother was like a second mother to me after my mom passed away in 1983. My stepmother died in 2011 at the age of 86, and my dad passed away one month shy of his 96th birthday in June 2019, and I wrote a blog post on my other blog titled, “A Eulogy for Dad,” on that day.
I created a second blog titled, “Reflections,” in April 2018 and my biography is a bit different on that blog. You can take a look at it at this link.
Photo #1 credit here
Photos #2 & 3 are personal photos
Sara's Musings 
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