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WGU Graduate Speaker, Cindy Krupinski, Winter 2015

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Title: 
WGU Graduate Speaker, Cindy Krupinski, Winter 2015
Creator: 
Western Governors University
Date: 
2015.02.07
Description: 
<p>Cindy Krupinski, B.S. in Business—IT Management, Livonia, Michigan, whose goals of earning her bachelor’s degree took 16 years to come to fruition, shared her story of years of being dogged time and time again by tragedy and trial—and finally earning her triumph.</p> <p>Cindy Krupinski earned her Bachelor of Science, Business - Information Technology Management degree.</p> <p>Transcription of video:</p> <p>I would like to begin by saying that I am proud and honored to be standing before you today to share my story with you and represent my fellow students and graduates. I hope my words can serve as an inspiration that nothing is impossible. Life's obstacles and struggles are mere stepping-stones to success.</p> <p>There's a quote by Robin S. Sharma that I use to help keep me motivated when times get tough. "Every event has a why, and all adversity teaches us a lesson. Never regret your past. Accept it as the teacher that it is." Coming from an average-size family, both my parents had to work multiple jobs to provide for us growing up. It was their work ethic and values that gave me the starting point to becoming the person that I am today.</p> <p>Becoming a mother at the age of 19 and losing my son's father in a car accident when my son was about 2 months old, getting married and having 2 more children, and becoming a stepparent all while attempting to go to school in the hopes to achieve my degree to set the example for my children and to be able to make a better life for my family.</p> <p>Sixteen years later, yes, you heard right, 16 years to earn a 2-year degree. I had now gone through a divorce, became a single parent for the second time, won my battle with cancer, lost everything I had worked for, including my home and my car, and began a new relationship. I found myself questioning what I needed to do to make a better life for my family. However, you can imagine my hesitation at going another round.</p> <p>Life has a funny way of shaking things up. So yet again, I found myself facing another challenge, maintaining a long-distance relationship because my boyfriend had to move out of state for work, taking care of my children, working fulltime, and now looking to add in going to school fulltime.</p> <p>At this point, my oldest had just graduated high school, and he was attending another university. My daughter would be graduating in a few years, and earning a more advanced degree would put me in a better position, but some questions remained. How was I going to afford it, find time to study, and get it done within a short period of time?</p> <p>My goal through all of this was to complete my studies before my kids graduated high school. Due to my cancer treatment, I missed my first target, but I didn't let that stop me. WGU is accredited, which allowed me to qualify for additional grants and scholarships, along with the discount that my employer currently offered. So with great determination to obtain my bachelor's degree before my daughter graduated, I began looking at my course of study and the time it would take. It was then I realized I needed to accelerate a bit to achieve my goal.</p> <p>During my third term at WGU, I managed to complete 26 competency units, which allowed me to move graduation up an entire term. [Applause] Within the first few months of attending WGU, I received recognition from my employers, management, as well as external clients, and soon was able to obtain a promotion at work. I attribute a good part of my success to my experience at WGU.</p> <p>Of course, I do nothing the easy way. I was now adding more responsibility on top of my already full life but maintained a great confidence and a can-do attitude. Don't get me wrong. This journey was not without its failures and struggles to master the concepts. Near the end of my program, I had one class left. Unfortunately, I took the test for that class and did not obtain my usual stellar score. This was a very devastating development, but with the help of my mentor John, along with many other course mentors, I was encouraged not to give up, and they provided great support both personally and academically.</p> <p>As the new semester began, I continued my weekly calls with my mentor, but I just could not pull myself out of this feeling of disappointment. As we spent roughly a year and a half talking every Monday, my mentor got to know me well, and he could see that this one had hit me hard. But that did not stop him and his conviction that I could do this, and he pointed out how close I really was to my goal. So we pulled out all the stops, scheduling calls with course mentors, sitting in on study sessions, and taking advantage of all of the vast learning resources that were available. I truly believe if it were not for the support that I received from the amazing mentors here at WGU, as well as the sacrifices my family made in those last few weeks, I would have never made it.</p> <p>One of the many gifts WGU gave me was a new confidence, and with that new tool, I'm creating new opportunities for myself every day. My parents always told me, "Don't let anyone say that you can't do something. If your drive and passion are there, then nothing can escape your reach." Those words have stayed with me through everything I do, a daily driving force, and pushed me to become the first female in my family to earn an advanced degree. I share these same words with my children, with the hope that it motivates them as it has me to reach for the stars and know nothing is impossible, if you are willing to put in the effort and dedication to get there.</p> <p>I would like to personally thank the people that made this journey possible. Thank you to the many mentors, John [Inaudible], Mindy [Inaudible], Judy [Inaudible], just to name a few, for the constant support and confidence in me. Thank you, Wayne, for the sacrifices you made every day to make my life easier, and thank you to my children. You are my true motivation behind me, and this day is that much more special that we share it together.</p> <p>I am proud to say that I graduated from WGU with so much more than I could have expected, a new confidence, a new knowledge, and a renewed vision of a bright future with unlimited possibilities. I am proud to be a WGU Night Owl and want to congratulate my fellow classmates in this great accomplishment. I leave you with this quote by Paul Gardner. "A painting is never finished. It simply stops in interesting places."</p> <p>[Applause]</p>
Publisher: 
Western Governors University
Rights: 
© 2017 Western Governors University – WGU. All Rights Reserved.
Original Format: 
Commencement Video
Digital Format: 
MP4 (Moving Picture Experts Group)