For some students, the first step toward a college degree is hard to take. But for Tim Merrell ('12), earning his degree at Peirce involved a first step more literal than most -- he walked into a conference room and got the push he needed to get back on his educational journey.
A few years ago, Tim was called into the private conference room by one of his colleagues, a long-time employee of the bank where they worked. His co-worker asked to meet because he was concerned that the fact that Tim had not graduated from college was
going to halt his career progress.
“You could be president of the bank someday,” the co-worker told him before going on to assert that Tim’s lack of a degree “hasn't stopped you yet, but it is going to someday.”
Someday. On many occasions, Tim had thought about finishing the college degree he had started after high school. But there was something about the forthrightness of his colleague's message that made him realize that his “someday”
needed to come sooner rather than later.
“It was not just about a piece of paper.”
Once enrolled at Peirce, Tim took advantage of the flexibility to take on-campus and online classes interchangeably, which enabled him to make his own schedule. This became even more important during his course of study when he and his wife
welcomed a healthy, happy baby boy.
Tim worked hard at his studies, and he earned a scholarship sponsored by the Peirce Business division in the process. In 2012, his determination paid off as he graduated summa cum laude from Peirce with a degree in Business Administration. For Tim Merrell, "someday” had finally become "today."
Since graduating, Tim has parlayed his degree into an exciting new professional opportunity. In February 2014, he joined Penn Liberty Bank
as a senior vice president.
He readily acknowledges that his Peirce experience was “a stepping stone to new opportunities." Earning his degree as an adult student clearly demonstrated to his new employer his work ethic and character -- “it was not just about a
piece of paper.”
Recently, Tim had the opportunity to pay it forward and help someone else get on their path toward a college degree. “I sat somebody down and told them the same story that had been told to me in that conference room.” The result of that discussion: there's another new student enrolled at Peirce.