April 10, 2024
Christina Armstrong '18
Submitted by Christina Armstrong
As a 1st Gen Latina, I did not have a path paved nor did I know anyone in my immediate circle that had the opportunity to attend college- I was 100% sure a degree was out of my reach. My parents taught me the value of hard and honest work at a young age and like many 1st Gen teens, I began my working career at fifteen years’ old in efforts to contribute to my family. By the age twenty-five, I had seven years of human resources experience under my belt and countless business, art and music courses completed at my local community college. Most notable at this time was the wall I reached in my career, as I was passed up for promotions due to not having a degree. Fed up with being turned down, I decided to attend orientations and campus tours at various universities. I showed up to each school orientation in school spirit colors and possibly a bit overly excited, only to leave with a crushing feeling of failure lemming over me telling me that completing a degree while also maintaining a fulltime job would be impossible to accomplish with the workload, limited class schedules and not to mention the price tag! With hopelessness setting in, I came across Cal Lutheran’s Bachelor’s Degree for Professionals orientation and decided to sign up for one last orientation. Maybe, this would be the one. I showed up on orientation day wearing a marigold dress (because it’s a bright happy color), I checked in, got my lanyard, itinerary, other Cal Lu memorabilia and anxiously awaited the orientation to start. The orientation speaker began by welcoming us and then shared her Cal Lutheran story. I vividly recall her words as she spoke of Cal Lutheran’s mission to attract and guide students into discovering their unique purpose, follow their purpose, and to transform the world and their communities. This was perhaps, one of the major deciding factors in becoming a part of Cal Lutheran. Later, I learned the Bachelor’s Degree for Professionals program had courses after 5pm, curricula designed for working professionals AND they had a program designed for Organization Development!!! Obviously, my search was over. I registered online, was assigned a counselor who graciously helped me with each step of the way: applying to the university, searching for grants, applying for student loans, transferring credits from my community college, and designing a class schedule that would earn me a bachelor’s degree within two years. In less than six months, I was a university student at Cal Lutheran working on my bachelor’s degree. The courses were perfectly aligned with my line of work and my classmates were diverse working professionals in similar professions within a wide range of industries. I graduated May 2018 and to this day my dad has my graduation photo on his nightstand. Earning a bachelors degree from Cal Lutheran has been one of the most impactful experiences in my adult life. Since, I have opened a Human Resources Consulting business dedicated to supporting small businesses in my community as well as opened a transportation business dedicated to transporting produce throughout California. My newest venture is a partnership with my husband, in which we are providing financial education to low-income families to bridge the financial gap in our community. My experiences at Cal Lutheran helped me find my purpose and taught me that it is more than okay to reach for the stars!