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Beth Bering shares how her learning in the Accelerated Online Degree program made a direct impact on her day-to-day work and her confidence moving forward.

When Beth Bering started her degree in management and organizational leadership, she was already decades into her career. She had experience in sales, marketing, account management and had even held managerial roles for a variety of organizations – from her start in telecommunications to full service agency work to hospitality, and training and development.

One might wonder what she had to learn from a college degree, but as Beth puts it, there was plenty of valuable learning.

“It's given me tools in my toolkit to make me a better manager and a better employee, but also a better leader.”

Just before she started the accelerated online degree program at George Fox, Beth took a position with the Oregon Business Resource Center. Her job was to help connect businesses that were impacted during the pandemic with resources. She acted as a connector, listening to business owners, assessing their challenges, and helping them bridge any gaps to accomplish their goals. 

“Those challenges could be anything from human resources to financial management to SEO or social media marketing,” says Beth. 

She quickly found that her college classes were directly relevant to her day-to-day work. A class on intercultural communication helped her better serve a diverse client population; a course on financial decision-making gave her better tools to frame conversations with businesses. 

“It was all stuff I needed to know to do better at work. That made it easy for me to want to do it.”

“What makes the program perfect for the working adult is that you can use real life. You keep things confidential, but you can use real-life case studies from your job. I can take that knowledge and use it to help my clients.”

Beth further bolstered her skills by earning two certificates, in behavioral health and conflict resolution, to fulfill many of the elective credits necessary for her degree.

“I learned about mediation skills, how to handle conflict, about behavior health and issues with mental health. It’s information you need as a manager to make better decisions.”

She also received credits for her life and work experience by completing prior learning essays and providing documentation on the Society of Human Resources Management training she had completed for work.

“I was delighted because to me it meant all the work I've done throughout my career paid off.”

“I see this as an opportunity that I was given this late in life,” says Beth, who is set to graduate the day before her 56th birthday.

“I am accomplishing something I’ve always wanted to do. The learning that I’ve gained from it and the confidence that it’s given me – it was worth the investment, worth my time. I feel really empowered to take what I can do to new levels.”