Lisa Broadwater is a full-time student at Gulf Coast State College in the Information Technology Management program. She is busy working as a student assistant with our Information Technology department where she gets hands-on experience within the field that she is studying.
Lisa became interested in the Information Technology Management program when she started having problems with her home internet signal and wanted to learn how to fix it herself. She enjoys learning how to re-configure devices so that they work properly and discovering any issues that may cause problems in the future within the system.
Lisa expressed that she never actually wanted to go into this field of study because most of her family was already in it. She stated “Hearing conversations at dinner of all the problems each person had to deal with and all the acronyms made me shudder at the thought of pursuing technology as a career.” After she witnessed the knowledge and abilities that her cousin gained when they went through the program, she decided to give it a shot.
Her dream job, after graduation from the program, is to manage a team that works with systems and databases or become a manager of a technology department. She believes that these types of positions would be where her knowledge and abilities would be utilized and challenged the best. She hopes to find a good internship program within a government sector which would offer her the chance to obtain her security clearance through that avenue.
Lisa thrives on the challenging and ever-changing field of IT Management. When asked how she handles all of the requirements of school work and motherhood, she stated “You don’t always have time for all of it. But each day is a challenge to see how much I can do.” Lisa has a strong grasp of time management skills and uses them on a daily basis. This is necessary because of the demands of her school, work, and home life.
Evening classes have been challenging for Lisa because of the impact upon her family. Even though sacrificing family time is difficult for Lisa, her family has helped her to stay focused on the end goal. She understands the value of the education that she is getting and stated “Learning to make a sacrifice in the time being that will definitely pay off in the long run.”
Her long-term goal is to have a career that pays well without infringing upon the time she wants to spend with her daughter. She wants to be able to teach her daughter about the things that she has learned in hopes of being a positive role model for her as she grows. With only three semesters left for Lisa to finish her program, her goal of finding a rewarding and challenging career for herself is nearing completion.
Written by: Michel Bass
Photo’s provided by Lisa Broadwater and Little Belle Photography
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Michel Bass
Student -
Michel Bass is a Web and Graphic Designer. She works full time as an Audio/Visual Technician at Gulf Coast State College as well as being a student there. She will graduate in the spring of 2017 with a Bachelor’s of Science in Digital Media. Her plans after graduation are to pursue a Master’s degree in Digital Media. After attaining these degree’s, she will put them to use by running her own media business and is considering to adjunct teaching at a college.
