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A New Niche

National graduate Tammy Swann has found a new niche as a loan processor thanks to her education. She completed requirements for an associate degree in business administration-management from the Roanoke Valley campus in November last year and is now working in the Loan Processing Department for the College administrative offices. Of her new job, Tammy said, "Everything is going great. I actually look forward to going to work on Mondays now. I love my job."

For more than five years, Tammy previously worked at Aramark, a company that provides work apparel and uniform services to area businesses. At Aramark, she worked in several positions from sorting clothes to folding towels and aprons. She most recently worked in the stock room assigning uniforms to customers using a bar code system. She decided that she wanted a job where she could grow professionally. She longed to begin a long term career instead of just having a job.

With three children, Tammy decided to go back to school so she would have the tools necessary to secure a financial future for her family. While working a full-time schedule and taking classes at night, she managed to complete requirements for her degree with a 3.65 cumulative grade point average!

Tammy gives much credit for her education to her husband Tyrone for supporting her even though it meant he would have more responsibility at home. He worked as many as 60 hours a week and then came home and took care of the children while Tammy attended class. She says, "Without his support and encouragement, there is no way I could have made it through my courses."

In hopes of finding a job using her new skills, Tammy sought career advice from the campus's Career Center Director Cathy Fortune. It was through this relationship that Tammy learned of the College's available position as loan processor. Tammy recently expressed much appreciation to Cathy for her help in getting the job. She said, "[This job] is so different from what I am used to…that is what I enjoy about it."

Tammy and her husband Tyrone hope to one day start their own lunch delivery business. She said with her new degree she could do the book keeping while Tyrone prepared the food.