“I had been working for six years as a financial analyst, and I was beginning to think, have I made a mistake?”
Wendy Westcott was doing well. As the executive assistant to the
vice president of advertising at Best Buy, she had climbed the
administrative ladder. One day over lunch, however, her boss made
a life-changing suggestion.
"He said I had a lot of potential, but it would be hard to go much
farther without a degree," she says.
Westcott wanted to advance beyond an administrative position, but
was overwhelmed at the thought of going back to school. Three
more years to complete a bachelor's degree seemed like a long
time. She was approaching her mid 30s, and didn't want to put it off
any longer.
She learned about Capella through Best Buy's education discount
and reimbursement program. The BS program in Business with
a specialization in Marketing and Sales seemed a perfect fit. The
program offered coursework that could advance her career and a
flexible online format that would accommodate her work schedule.
But Westcott found more than just a nice fit. "All the classes pertain
to what I do at work, so everything I learn I can bring to my job,"
she says. "I'm seriously enjoying it." She keeps the textbook from
Capella's Change Management class at her desk so she can refer
to it for help in resolving work issues. "I didn't think I was going to
learn so much about what I do. I thought everything I needed to
know was already here, at work."
A year into her studies at Capella, Westcott's supervisor (the vice
president of print advertising) encouraged her to apply for an
account executive position. Her work toward a marketing-focused
degree helped her land the job. For two years she has managed
pages for Best Buy's weekly ad inserts, a leap she could not have
made without advancing her education.
Her academic work at Capella has also helped Westcott gain
confidence. "I feel like I can contribute to the conversations around
me," she says. "I'm not just following [my peers] any more; I'm
carving my own way."