Karen Bremer graduated this past March 2018, with a Master of Arts in Human Resources Management (MA).
“My educational journey began Fall Session 2 October 2014. I work for a non-profit organization and my Director kept encouraging me to pursue my Master’s Degree in Human Resources because he said I have what it takes to be a HR Manager/Director. Because I had 3 children, and they were involved in many activities, I made him a promise when my last child graduated from high school I would look into attending grad school. In the fall of 2014 I began my journey at Webster University. I live in Des Plaines, Illinois, which is a suburb of Chicago, so I wanted to find a university which would allow me to complete my courses online. Webster University had the Master program I was looking for.
While this may not be a “wow” story on the surface, I will continue to explain my journey. When I began I was 54 years of age and had been out of college since 1983. I finished my master’s degree at the age of 57 and it took me 3.5 years to complete all the online coursework. I was working full time as a HR Specialist, had a family, and took courses. While it wasn’t always easy I managed to push on. I would take my books on my vacations to complete assignments and would get up at 4:00am as well. I pushed myself with a countdown of courses. I also had the support, not only of my family, but from my Director. This made taking courses so much better.
Due to the information I was learning in my course track, I was able to apply many of my lessons to real life situations in my job. I came up with different ways to mainstream processes due to discussions or suggestions from my classmates and professors. I never thought at the age of 57 I would have my Master’s in Human Resources Management and graduate with a 3.78 GPA! If I could give a word of advice to all is continue to dream and believe your dreams can come true. I never gave up on my dream of higher education, and I am blessed to be an alum of Webster University.”
