{"id":144,"date":"2015-01-06T16:40:33","date_gmt":"2015-01-06T21:40:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.bsu.edu\/online\/?p=144"},"modified":"2020-07-08T15:07:47","modified_gmt":"2020-07-08T19:07:47","slug":"back-to-school","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.bsu.edu\/online\/2015\/01\/back-to-school\/","title":{"rendered":"Back to School"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Going back to school for her <strong><span style=\"color: #ba0c2f\"><a style=\"color: #ba0c2f\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bsu.edu\/academics\/collegesanddepartments\/online\/academic-programs\/masters\/maexecdev\">master\u2019s in executive development and public service<\/a><\/span><\/strong> led Kristen Bitzegaio to the Back to School Teachers Store as the nonprofit\u2019s new executive director.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;I believe that you shouldn\u2019t invest your time in something that won\u2019t excite you every day.&#8221;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<h4>MASTER\u2019S DEGREE LEADS FROM PASSION TO PROFESSION<\/h4>\n<p>Determined to find her perfect niche in the world, Kristen Bitzegaio<br \/>\nmoved carefully toward a professional position after earning her master\u2019s degree.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright\" src=\"https:\/\/www.bsu.edu\/-\/media\/www\/departmentalcontent\/onlineanddistanceed\/newphotos\/success%20stories\/647kristenbitzegaio.jpg?h=200&amp;w=300&amp;hash=5CAC2C395C25D127F5C5CD5B7CBD35D4968618B7&amp;la=en\" alt=\"Kristen Bitzegaio\" \/><\/p>\n<p>\u201cI believe you shouldn\u2019t invest your time in something that won\u2019t excite you every single day,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s why Bitzegaio, who has a lifelong background and a passion in volunteering, believed that earning Ball State\u2019s master of arts in executive development for public service would be essential in leading her to a fulfilling career.<\/p>\n<h4>MAKING HUGE DECISIONS<\/h4>\n<p>\u201cIt was a huge decision to go back for my master\u2019s,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n<p>She had been out of school for four years and was working part time. Her husband was working full-time and the couple had two children under the age of three.<\/p>\n<p>Bitzegaio knew that taking on graduate work would mean cutting back on expenses while adding further commitments.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe knew it would be worth the investment and time,\u201d she says. Bitzegaio was also ready to take on new opportunities.<\/p>\n<h4>FINDING THE RIGHT FIT<\/h4>\n<p>The flexibility of Ball State\u2019s online program made it possible for her to tackle master\u2019s work and motherhood simultaneously.<\/p>\n<p>After finishing her degree in July 2014, Bitzegaio received a handful of job offers and opportunities, but she was still looking for her niche.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI wasn\u2019t dragging my feet, but holding out for the right fit,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n<p>Then she learned about an executive director\u2019s position with Back to School Teachers Store, Inc., a non-profit organization in Muncie, Indiana, that provides free classroom resources to teachers in the community. It was just the kind of career fulfillment that Bitzegaio had envisioned.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cClasses that I took in my degree work included volunteer management and grant writing,\u201d she says. \u201cThose classes gave me some guiding principles that I could apply across all facets of fundraising and stewardship.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Going back to school for her master\u2019s in executive development and public service led Kristen Bitzegaio to the Back to School Teachers Store as the nonprofit\u2019s new executive director. &#8220;I believe that you shouldn\u2019t invest your time in something that won\u2019t excite you every day.&#8221; MASTER\u2019S DEGREE LEADS FROM PASSION TO PROFESSION Determined to find [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":156,"featured_media":145,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[25,26,7],"class_list":["post-144","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-student-and-faculty-stories","tag-executive-development-and-public-service","tag-flexible","tag-masters"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Back to School - Ball State Online<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Kristen Bitzegaio is pursuing her master\u2019s in executive development and public service as she balances motherhood and turns her passion into a profession.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.bsu.edu\/online\/2015\/01\/back-to-school\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Back to School - Ball State Online\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Kristen Bitzegaio is pursuing her master\u2019s in executive development and public service as she balances motherhood and turns her passion into a profession.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/blogs.bsu.edu\/online\/2015\/01\/back-to-school\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Ball State Online\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-01-06T21:40:33+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-07-08T19:07:47+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/assets.blogs.bsu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2019\/11\/06164019\/OSL_2014-093.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1500\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jack W. 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