![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.rivier.edu\/alumni\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/17\/2019\/07\/K_Suslovitch_Story-980x731.jpg\")
<\/span><\/p>\nKeri needed to find a school with a shorter commute. <\/span>\u201cI wanted a similar small school, closer to home. Rivier fit perfectly,\u201d she says.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Keri transferred to Rivier, becoming a full-time student who also held down a full-time job. And in 1994, she added ‘tech start-up co-founder’ to her resume.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Keri\u2019s company, Interlynx Technology, built a suite of \u201cself-service\u201d human resource applications that allowed companies to take their HR processes online and integrate with ERP systems. The start-up world is often associated with around-the-clock work, and that was no different for Keri.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThe needs of the start-up demanded my entire focus, and I had to put earning my degree on hold,\u201d she says. \u201cI promised myself it was only a temporary setback, that I would return to finish it.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n The 24\/7 dedication paid off. Interlynx\u2019s products became a top choice among many Fortune 1000 companies, with more than 2 million employees using the system. After six years of success, the start-up was acquired.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI had great success early in my career,\u201d she explains. \u201cBut, still, I didn\u2019t have a degree.\u201d<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n Throughout the 2000s, Keri focused on raising a family, but the idea of finishing college remained on her mind. After all, she had made a promise to herself.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n When she was ready to come back, Keri found that Rivier was a perfect fit; this time in the Professional Studies program\u2014where degrees are designed with working adult students in mind.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cRivier made it easy for me to pick up where I left off when I was ready to return,\u201d she says.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n As she pursued her <\/span>B.S. in Business Administration<\/span>, Keri took a combination of on-campus and online courses; this flexibility in format allowed her to fit school into her schedule. She found attending in-person, evening classes beneficial to her learning.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThere is something to be said for sitting in a classroom with your fellow students, especially if the class happens to offer opportunities for great discussions,\u201d she said. \u201cThe flip side is that it can be really tough to drag yourself to a class after working all day, and you\u2019re tired.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n She found online classes to be the best fit for her busy schedule.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cYou can do the work when your schedule permits, even if it happens to be 3 a.m.,\u201d she says. \u201cFor me, that made all the difference in the world. Not having the stress of needing to be on campus at a particular time was a game-changer.\u201d<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n Another game-changer: Professional Studies students are assigned a success coach. Keri appreciated the calls and emails from her coach; they kept her motivated and aware of deadlines.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cIt was really amazing to have someone proactively reach out to ensure my success,\u201d she says.\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n For Keri, returning to the classroom \u201creawakened a real love of learning\u201d\u2014and she says she appreciated the education more the second time around. For one, she was able to immediately apply what she was learning in her business classes to her full-time retail management position.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWhat surprised me was the impact of the non-business classes and how much they challenged me to think differently and develop new perspectives,\u201d she says. Keri was deeply affected by one of her divinity classes, in which students were asked to consider the purpose of work.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cDo you work because you\u2019re driven, or is it a means to an end,\u201d she explains of the questions they explored. \u201cIt stimulated my thinking, and it caused me to really step back and think deeper about what drives me.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n A strategic management course also had a profound impact on Keri. Students were asked to reflect on everything they\u2019d learned in prior business classes and consider how they would \u201capply it in a way that is true to who you are.\u201d For Keri, this meant thinking about her own management philosophy: what drives her decisions and how her choices affect her team, impact results, and shape the work environment.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cHaving someone challenge me to figure out what kind of leader I am helped me to discover where and how I can make a difference,\u201d she says. \u201cIt was simply the best way to wrap up earning my degree.\u201d<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n Keri\u2019s looking forward to seeing where her degree will take her\u2014maybe another start-up or a career in healthcare and medical sales. No matter what the future brings, she\u2019s happy she kept her promise.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cEarning my degree is one of my proudest accomplishments. I think it is so important to set goals and do whatever it takes for as long as it takes to get to that finish line,\u201d she says. \u201cThe process of getting there taught me how to problem-solve, strategize, prioritize, and persevere.\u201d<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" From Start-Up to Finish Keri needed to find a school with a shorter commute. \u201cI wanted a similar small school, closer to home. Rivier fit perfectly,\u201d she says.\u00a0 Keri transferred […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"parent":295,"menu_order":12,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-356","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nTime and Technology<\/h2>\n
Returning to Riv<\/h2>\n
New Discoveries<\/h2>\n