Kelly Stewart

I would say continuing my education has been key to my success. I have 4 different degrees, and that would have never been possible without being able to work in higher education. I was a first-generation student, so college was never mentioned in my home growing up - it was just finish high school. I think always being able to have goals, set those goals, and in order to achieve them, it was having the education and trying to get additional certifications and any way that I could do professional development. I also believe that having values like integrity, loyalty, and being honest set in your life will lead you to success. Because if you're hardworking, and you're honest, and you're loyal to your job and to the people around you, that's how you're going to succeed.

The best career advice I would say was to never give up. I was one of those students that changed my major 3 or 4 times because I didn't know what I wanted to go into, I didn't know what college life was about. My personal experience has helped a lot of students because I have shared that advice with them. Sometimes I'll get a student in my office that is in tears and crying, saying they have to switch their major because they can't pass one class. I'm there to help support them and say, okay, let's see what other options are. Maybe you really don't necessarily have to change your major yet. Maybe you just have to stay another semester, or take other courses leading up to get you to that point. Or sometimes it is that they do have to switch a major, because they maybe don't have that math ability yet, but they'll eventually get to their dream career by maybe trying to get their foot into the door with a company, doing something else leading up to that as they mature and grow to get to that opportunity. I really feel like that advice to never give up is important because sometimes it takes one person a lot longer than another person to get to their dream job.

I would say it's important to set goals, and don't let anything kind of get in your way of those goals. I think that women have way more opportunities now than we've ever had in the past. So, I think you know, don't overlook those opportunities, make sure you're taking advantage of them when they're there for you.

I would say it's always the job market, the demands of the job market - what is available and what are we lacking now. AI, of course, is the number one topic, the number one issue on everybody's minds when it comes to choosing a career. What is going to exist in another year to 5 years to 20 years from now? Things are drastically gonna change. So I think that is definitely the biggest challenge - looking at the majors that we have now, how limited are some of those jobs gonna become in the next year or two. How are we gonna find those opportunities for our students?

I would say integrity, loyalty, and being honest. When you have those values set in your life, it will lead you to success. Because if you're hardworking, and you're honest, and you're loyal to your job, to the people around you, that's how you're going to succeed. I also love to hike and walk, and I love to do some yoga and meditation. I live as a Christian, so my church and volunteering for my church are very important to me. Prayer and meditation are important aspects of my life.