- Sarah Annibale, UMUC Student
Dual Degree: MS in Management and MBA
Graduate School of Management and Technology
MyUMUC Story:
Sarah Annibale Finds Her Ideal Education and Career at UMUC
By: Amanda Agatstein
A job switch was just the beginning of some major life changes for Sarah Annibale. Looking to break into higher education, she accepted a graduate advising position at UMUC. Annibale was quickly impressed by just how much the university offers its students—so impressed that she quit her then master’s degree program to enroll at UMUC.
“After working as an advisor and meeting the faculty, departments, and students, I was so excited about what UMUC was doing,” says Annibale. “After just four months of working here, I decided that it was time to quit my other graduate degree program and enroll at UMUC.”
So Annibale began a UMUC dual degree—the Master of Science in management with a specialization in marketing, and the Master of Business Administration (MBA)—while making a name for herself as a UMUC graduate advisor. In just over a year, Annibale was promoted to her current position, assistant director of the military advising team. There, she helps provide administrative support to the director, advisors, and students, as well as customer service to students and departments within UMUC. For Annibale, no job could be more satisfying.
“We do anything and everything, from assisting students and advising, to planning outreach initiatives, to hiring and handling personnel issues,” Annibale says. “It’s definitely not a job that can be completed in just an eight-hour day, but it’s totally worth it.”
As if starting a new career, enrolling in a dual degree program, and getting a promotion wasn’t life-altering enough, Annibale also got married and moved into a new home. Her life was busier than ever, but because her degree program is offered fully online, Annibale was able to fit learning into her hectic schedule.
“I prefer online classes, because they let me schedule my learning and class work around my responsibilities,” says Annibale. “For me, that’s great for time management. I can take that two to four hours of time and apply it to participation, reading, and assignments. That style of learning really suits me.”
Annibale completed the first of her two degrees, the MS in management, in December 2007 and expects to graduate with her MBA in December of this year. After she reaches that goal, Annibale’s life is likely to get even more jam-packed. She hopes to continue growing professionally by moving up through the ranks of the university, and aspires to one day earn her PhD so she can teach at the college level. She and her husband also want to travel more and they plan to start a family soon.
In the meantime, Annibale continues to love the work she does for the university and its military students.
“I work with some exceptional, dedicated people,” says Annibale of the military advising team. “Our students themselves are inspiring—we’ve had them call in to register for classes with gunfire in the background as they talk to us. Despite the obstacles, all of our students have a dream of earning a degree, and we’re lucky enough to help them realize that dream.”
