Mother, full-time employee, and now college graduate

Going to college can be challenging enough, but add being a mom and working full time to the equation and it can seem nearly impossible. This scenario was just a normal day for Angel Rumba. With an amazing support system at home, flexible coworkers, and personal dedication, Angel was able to follow her dream of going back to school.

Pursuing her dreams

Angel started working at Cook Biotech in West Lafayette, Indiana, in 2008. She described her journey to the department she is in now as stepping into different positions. During the 14 years that she has been there, she has worked in Dry Production, spent some time in the Development Labs, and now works in Human Tissue. She had always wanted to further her career by going to school but knew that it would require financial and time commitments. With the My Cook Pathway program, she was able to go to school online, at her convenience, for a fraction of the cost.

“I’ve always wanted to go to school. Having the opportunity from My Cook Pathway pushed me to go,” Angel said.

At first, Angel enrolled at Ivy Tech Community college. However, the program did not offer the flexibility she was seeking. Shortly after starting classes, she found out that going to school and working a full-time job caused her to be away from her family more often than she preferred. She searched for a program with more flexibility and ultimately chose Purdue University Global. She enrolled in February of 2019 to pursue a bachelor’s degree in health science, a degree that would compliment her current certificate in tissue banking.

Purdue University Global has a completely online curriculum and is part of the Purdue University system in West Lafayette. It appealed to Angel because she was able to register for classes that best fit her schedule and that she could attend from anywhere. This allowed her to spend more time with her family and even attend classes while on vacation. If she did have to miss a class, the professor would provide her with a recording to watch and allow her to write a paper about to make up for the time missed rather than giving her an attendance penalty. Her favorite classes were microbiology, genetics, and anatomy and physiology.

As anyone can imagine, life as a full-time employee, mom, and student was a lot to juggle, especially with the expectations Angel had for herself.

“I wanted to get a 4.0 GPA,” she said. “That was one of my goals, and that is what I did. Maintaining it was difficult. I put an immense amount of pressure on myself to do well at work, be home to take care of my kids, and do well at school.”

Advice, encouragement, and gratitude

One piece of advice that Angel shared is to celebrate every milestone. Her family was very supportive of her endeavors and would often take her to dinner to celebrate victories, big or small, such as receiving an A in class.

In addition to having a great support system at home, she also had one at work.

“I want to thank all of the people that supported me at Cook.”

Her coworkers were very helpful and encouraging. One coworker even helped Angel practice for her speech class. “I’m awful at public speaking. She let me practice in front of her. That was a huge help,” Angel said.

In July, Angel graduated from Purdue University Global in just a little over three years. To celebrate, she went on a trip to Jamaica with her husband and friends.

To employees considering using the My Cook Pathway program, Angel offered the following advice:

“I would definitely do it. I have no regrets. If going to school is something you want to do, I say go for it. At most, you’re going to get experience, you’re going to learn, and if you go to Purdue University Global, it is no cost to you. Yeah, you are putting in effort, but you’re getting so much more out of it. Even if it doesn’t help you right now, it will help you in the future,” she said.

Angel’s decision to go back to school demonstrates how Cook employees share the company’s values, especially to continually improve. She pursued a degree that helped her improve her work as a tissue bank specialist and uses the knowledge she gained from her education every day. Not only did it improve her critical thinking, but she now has more insight on the decision-making processes in her department. Angel has also thought about going back to school to receive a master’s degree so she can grow even further at Cook.