My LACC Story: Finding the Right Corporate Ladder to Climb

By Ryan Koncar

After 10 years pursuing a retail sales and management career, I made the decision to return to school full time and finish what I started so long ago—earning a Bachelor’s degree. The best way to describe how I felt at the time is like this: I was climbing the figurative corporate ladder only to find out halfway up that it was leaning against the wrong building. Even though I was heading down a decent path, it wasn’t leading to where I wanted to be in 10, 20, or 30 years’ time. Leaping off that ladder and enrolling at LACC put me on not just the right path, but a better one.

With a great sense of urgency, I set out to find the best way forward by meeting with an academic counselor and putting together a solid academic plan. I came prepared, asked questions, committed to the plan, and stuck with it as I neared transferring to a university. Perhaps the most valuable part of that plan and continued commitment, however, came not from a counselor but from the professors. They were genuine in their teaching approach and explicitly desired to help students achieve their goals.

Being highly motivated in my desire to transfer to a university, I approached every class with the purpose of getting as much mileage out of it as possible. Some courses were more difficult than others, but across the board each professor in his or her own way made me a better student. Above all, I appreciated the manner in which they identified how or why their class was related to a bigger picture (i.e. transferring to a university, etc.).

My final semester at LACC included working alongside the Associate Dean in the Office of Student Life, which was incredibly satisfying. Interacting with students of all stripes, administrators, and the LACC community at large really closed the loop for me by showing a different perspective of student life on campus. Combining all that I learned in and out of the classroom as a member of the LACC community, I was confident, prepared, and eager for anything. The foundation was set for me to transfer to a university.

The time I spent at LACC undoubtedly prepared me for rigorous coursework at the university level because I embraced the environment, challenges, and opportunities laid before me. The respect and appreciation I have for the administrators and professors at LACC runs deep and wide.

I am now in the Honors Program at Baruch College, a part of the City University of New York. In 2017 I will graduate with a B.B.A. in Management with minors in Advanced Business Analysis and History. In the meantime I have secured an internship in the Office of Staff Resources at the New York City Human Resources Administration. From my cubicle on the 38th floor of 4 World Trade Center, I can look out the floor-to-ceiling windows to the west and reflect on my time invested at LACC. One thing is perfectly clear: the ladder I’m climbing now is definitely leaning against the right building.

 

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