After deciding to pursue a master’s degree to open up more career opportunities, Jeffrey Jenkins, MBA’16, chose Missouri S&T on the recommendation of his brother, recent Rolla graduate Jared Jenkins, BAdm’12, Econ’12.

“I didn’t want to sell myself short in the education department, and I wanted to prove it to myself that I could keep going to get an MBA,” says Jenkins, who works in accounting for Hertz Corp. in Oklahoma City. “The advanced degree will open up many doors later on in my career and help me pursue my personal and professional interests.”

Teaching young people about the business world is one of Jenkins’ goals. In the future, he hopes to teach high school-aged students. Jenkins sees a gap when students learn about potential careers.

“Educating students about the need for business-minded individuals is key for the industry,” says Jenkins. “High schoolers could really benefit from being exposed to business jobs and management skills. It is sometimes too late to learn about a career at the college level.”

Jenkins started out by testing the waters in the business program, earning a graduate certificate in enterprise resource planning in 2014 to make sure he could handle the increased graduate-level workload.

“I wasn’t sure about the whole distance education thing, but I quickly realized that the program was flexible and I could continue to work full time while taking classes,” says Jenkins. “If I miss the first 15 minutes of class rushing home, I can always watch them later that evening.”

Jenkins echoes the sentiments of most distance students, saying that time management and determination are key for those who balance full-time work and full-time studies.

“Sometimes I would just be so drained from it all, it really made me question it, but then I would step back and look at my priorities,” Jenkins says. “That would reaffirm my beliefs and push me to keep going on.”