With Her Bachelor's Degree, Recent Rasmussen College Graduate Gains the Confidence to Reach For and Achieve Her Goals [VIDEO]

When looking to move up in her company and browsing job descriptions, one thing jumped out at Marcie Rehfield—almost all of the positions were looking for a candidate who had a Bachelor’s degree. Rehfield says it was then she knew that if she wanted to progress in the company she had been with for over 15 years, she needed to go back to school and get her Bachelor’s degree.

In the summer of 2015, Rehfield decided she was going to go pursue her Bachelor’s degree in Business Management. She knew she was already extremely busy and would have to juggle her demanding work and family schedules if she was going to make college work for her. Ultimately, Rehfield said it was one of her personal goals to “feel good about myself when someone asked about my education background.” With that goal in mind, she had enough motivation to pursue her degree.

Based on her research and the suggestion of a friend, Rehfield enrolled in the online accelerated Business Management Bachelor’s degree program at the Rasmussen College Tampa/Brandon campus. She knew the program would be fast paced and strenuous, but with a goal to advance her career she knew she could do it. Rehfield says that for her it has always been “the busier I am, the better I perform.”

Fast-forward to February 4, 2017: Rehfield found herself addressing a crowd of more than 150 of her fellow graduates during the Tampa/Brandon campus graduation ceremony. When Rehfield was first asked if she would speak at commencement, she questioned, “Why me?” and, “Do you know you are speaking to Marcie Rehfield?” At first she thought, “I am not great or special enough.”

Being asked to speak made Rehfield slow down and reflect on her college experience. “When I began to think about the last fourteen months of my schooling and how successful my experience has been, I realized, ‘Hey, I really am awesome, and I deserve the credit and this pat on the back,’” Rehfield says. “It is a big honor to be asked to speak.” It is evident that Rehfield’s goal-oriented mindset and determination awarded her the honor of speaking at graduation.

In her speech, Rehfield hoped to inspire others and make people feel like a college degree is obtainable, as long as “You really want it and are willing to put in the time and effort.” While it was not easy, Rehfield was able to juggle a full-time career—that had her traveling across the U.S.—and a busy family while still keeping up on her schoolwork. She wanted others to know that they could achieve their goals, too.

When Rehfield was growing up, she knew that she wanted to pursue things that “made her heart happy,” she said. When she met her husband and started a family, she knew that she wanted to be able to provide for her family and be an inspiration for her two children— the way her parents had always been for her. Graduating from Rasmussen College helped give Rehfield confidence that she really could achieve any goal she set her mind to. She hopes to instill this attribute in her children.

Within the fourteen months of working toward getting her degree, Rehfield has found herself a new sense of determination… and a promotion. She is now the Vice President of Large Corporate Retail for Bank of America and finds herself traveling across the United States for work.

In addition to advancing her career, Rehfield was recently accepted into graduate school and plans to pursue her Master’s in Business Administration with a finance specialty starting in March. Rehfield is ever-pushing forward and will undoubtedly surpass more of her goals in the future.

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