A Lay Off That Turned Into A College Degree – Meet Gloria Murphy
A Lay Off That Turned Into A College Degree – Meet Gloria Murphy
For some Peirce College students, it’s a stroke of temporary bad luck that serves as the final push to enroll in college. That was the experience for current Peirce College Paralegal Studies student Gloria Murphy, who endured a lay off from her job at a law firm in 2013. Instead of feeling sorry for herself and simply wondering about her next step in life, she decided to take action by attending Peirce College’s partner school, Delaware County Community College (DCCC).
“I had always wanted to go to college, but with my family and some other circumstances, it just made a little more sense for me to work. But when I was laid off in 2013, I knew it was time to provide myself with a college degree,” Gloria said.
Gloria was undecided at first, but then chose Paralegal Studies at DCCC because she had already developed quite a familiarity with the industry from working at the law firm. Although she says she was nervous for her first semester at college, Gloria’s fears quickly diminished after her first few weeks.
“Delaware County Community College was a great experience for me. It had been so long since I was in school and it was very different to be around students much younger than me – they all used their cell phones all throughout class! But I sat up front, paid attention, and once I got past Math and English, I knew I could do it,” Gloria explained.
While preparing to graduate in 2015 and looking for a college to continue her studies, the transfer department at DCCC informed Gloria that there was a college in Center City Philadelphia that was American Bar Association (ABA) approved, offered evening classes, and would accept all of her credits. Since Gloria already worked on 18th and Market Street at Offit Kurman Attorneys at Law, it was an easy choice, and Gloria enrolled at Peirce College in 2016.
Gloria continues to work fulltime at Offit Kurman as a hybrid Legal Assistant and Administrative Paralegal, and since she’s so close to campus, she prefers to attend her classes on campus. Gloria currently has a 3.8 GPA and intends to graduate in May of 2020. Her hope upon graduation is to continue to work at Offit Kurman – ideally as a Corporate Paralegal.
When asked how attending college as an adult is different from her experience in high school, Gloria says that the most obvious answer would be her maturity level. She admits that if she would have attended college immediately after high school as an 18 or 19 year old, she would not have taken it as seriously. But now, with two children that are college graduates, she appreciates the experience and knows what impact it can have on her life.
Though she doesn’t have much spare time since she works and attends Peirce College full-time, Gloria likes to stay active by spending as much time as possible with her family, especially by visiting her granddaughter in New York.
Peirce College salutes Delaware County Community College for providing Gloria with an excellent educational foundation, and wishes her the best in all of her future endeavors!
If you or someone you know is looking to transfer to Peirce College, please contact me, Tom Tschop, Director, Strategic Partnerships & Institutional Enrollment, at 215.670.9203 or ttschop@peirce.edu.
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