{"id":50879,"date":"2017-09-11T11:50:37","date_gmt":"2017-09-11T16:50:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/?p=50879"},"modified":"2023-05-10T15:42:50","modified_gmt":"2023-05-10T20:42:50","slug":"uwm-online-degree-makes-career-change-possible","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/uwm-online-degree-makes-career-change-possible\/","title":{"rendered":"51ÁÔÆæ online degree makes career change possible"},"content":{"rendered":"

Jordan Acevedo had reached a point in his life where he wanted to move into a different career.<\/p>\n

However, with a full-time job and four children, he wasn\u2019t quite sure how he would manage to get the education he needed to make that move.<\/p>\n

He had a bachelor\u2019s degree in electrical engineering from 51ÁÔÆæ and had been working in that field, but he was really interested in moving into web design and development.<\/p>\n

\u201cAbout five years ago is when I decided to look into something different,\u201d said Acevedo, now 32. \u201cThen I kind of lollygagged and waffled around about whether I could do it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Enrolling in the School of Information Studies at 51ÁÔÆæ helped make up his mind. \u201cI took a course on Adobe Flash and loved it. I thought, \u2018This is it. This is what I want to do.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

His adviser steered him into the information science and technology program two years ago.<\/p>\n

Being able to do most of his coursework online while still working full-time made it possible to complete that second degree, Acevedo said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was a huge factor,\u201d he said, \u201cthe fact that I could do it online for a cost that, compared to what most college credits cost, was extremely reasonable.\u201d<\/p>\n

The flexibility was vital in helping him fit coursework into a busy family and work life. His wife, recently retired as a Milwaukee police officer, was working full-time when he started back to school, so their regular schedules were challenging.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d wake up at 6 a.m., get kids to school, go to work, come home about 5:30 or 6. Around 7 or 7:30, I\u2019d do homework and readings.\u201d He also took advantage of the free Lynda subscription through 51ÁÔÆæ, which allowed him to explore additional web courses.<\/p>\n

And, when the unexpected happened, having the freedom to work online was vital, Acevedo said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI came home from work one night and my son was sick with an ear infection, so I had to take him to the doctor. My wife was at work and my daughter was at gymnastics class, so I would have had to go and pull her out of there if I\u2019d had to go to a class. With the online course, I was able to do what I needed to do and finish up the classwork later in the week. I just had to make sure it was done by Sunday.\u201d<\/p>\n

Acevedo chose 51ÁÔÆæ because he was familiar with the campus and the program fit his needs. He was able to build on the core courses in areas such as mathematics and English that he\u2019d taken for his previous degree, cutting down on the time needed to finish up this second degree. \u201cThat was a huge help.\u201d<\/p>\n

During the fall semester of 2016, he was among the nontraditional students honored with an academic achievement award. Adam Hudson, lecturer in the School of Information Studies, nominated him.<\/p>\n

\u201cJordan works full time (and) has a young family at home, which is a lot to juggle,\u201d Hudson wrote in his nomination letter. \u201cHe is an outstanding student and is engaged in class and does exceptional work. He has been a pleasure to have in class and as a participant in the Nonprof-IT internship program at SOIS.\u201d<\/p>\n

Acevedo worked for the Nonprof-IT program<\/a>, which Hudson directs, for two semesters. The program provides information technology services and web design to nonprofits, giving students hands-on experience working in teams with clients.<\/p>\n

Nonprof-IT gave him a chance to learn about community organizations and the work they are doing with often limited resources, Acevedo said. He worked on a web redesign project with Community First<\/a>, an organization helping low-income residents with repair projects, during the spring 2015 semester. Then in fall 2016, he was part of the first-ever all online student Nonprof-IT team that worked with the Walker\u2019s Point Youth and Family Center<\/a> to upgrade their website.<\/p>\n

Those experiences at Nonprof-IT were invaluable to him, said Acevedo.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wanted to do it because I wanted the experience of working with a team,\u201d he said. \u201cI knew that with my family and a full-time job, I couldn\u2019t do an internship. This was a way to build up my experience nontraditionally and have things to put in the portfolio.\u201d<\/p>\n

He graduated in May 2017, and is looking for a job in web design and development, but is not leaving his current job until he finds one that is just the right fit, he said.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, he\u2019s started his own small company, Jace Web Design<\/a>, doing freelance web development work.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis gives me a way to keep my skills sharp doing actual work,\u201d he said. \u201cIt’s nice to take the lessons and apply them to a real project. In a perfect world, I\u2019d like to work for myself designing websites. I believe I can get there.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

With a full-time job and a family, Jordan Acevedo knew it wouldn’t be easy to go back to school to change careers. 51ÁÔÆæ’s online program made it possible. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":835,"featured_media":50880,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","uwm_wg_additional_authors":[]},"categories":[174],"tags":[250],"section":[142,139],"display_categories":[115,116],"related-coverage":[],"uwmnews-feed":[167,347,165],"class_list":["post-50879","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-student-success","section-computer-science-technology","section-science-technology","display_categories-top-story-secondary","display_categories-top-story-section","uwmnews-feed-alumni-association","uwmnews-feed-community-engagement-professions","uwmnews-feed-information-studies"],"yoast_head":"\n51ÁÔÆæ online degree makes career change 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