Journey to the Master’s: You Are Not Alone - 2017

When I started my Masters in Management at San Diego State University there were few or no Hispanics in any of my classes. There were very few Hispanic students in the SDSU College of Business Administration and there were no Hispanic faculty members at the Master’s level. The sense of isolation and desire to connect with other Hispanic business professionals that I had were similar to those described by Victor Arias, Jr. that sparked the idea of founding NSHMBA (now Prospanica).

When I found out that there was a local chapter of a nationwide network of Hispanic business professionals I was excited! I immediately joined NSHMBA. It’s funny, I still have the funky old blue cd case with the NSHMBA logo on it that they gave as a promo gift for joining. To encourage Prospanica members who are currently pursuing college degrees, I share the story below, titled Journey to the Master’s: You Are Not Alone, which was published in the NSHMBA Magazine in 2012.

“A master’s in anything will do,” said my abuelita (Grandma Mamita). It was graduation day at San Diego State University. After seven years of college, I was graduating with my Bachelor of Science in Business Administration. The sun was shining and it was time to celebrate. Graduation days were always among the happiest days of my grandma’s life; right up there with marriages, births and baptisms. When I graduated with my bachelor’s degree, she was thrilled. I thought she was going to say something like, “Oh Pablito, I’m so happy you finally graduated from college,” but instead she delivered the classic grandma one-liner, “A master’s in anything will do.”

It had been a long road. Growing up without much money, I took it upon myself to quit high school and start working for minimum wage to earn a paycheck. During my years of working minimum wage jobs, I learned a lot about washing dishes, sweeping and mopping floors, cleaning toilets, shoveling dirt, cashiering at gas stations, busing tables and finally, waiting tables. Of course, my abuelita went ballistic. She used to say things in a way that only a grandma could, like, “Pablito, when are you going to go to school? When are you going to get a decent job? I hope you graduate before I die!”

You see, my abuelita’s mission in life was to make sure that all of her grandchildren graduated from college. She knew that a college degree was the ticket to achieving the American dream. She never went to college, but she was bound and determined that all of her grandchildren would earn college degrees. She was born on a finca (farm) in Aguas Buenas, Puerto Rico, in 1904 and took a boat from San Juan to New York City in 1924 to pave the way in the States for future generations.

So, back to the journey. After a couple of years of working minimum wage jobs, I enrolled in community college. In nine and a half of the next 14 years I took a total of 70 college classes and earned associate’s, bachelor’s, and master’s degrees in Business Administration and Management. And I kept on working the whole way through. When I earned my bachelor’s degree, I set a goal of going back to school within five years to earn my master’s. During those five years, my abuela would periodically say, “Pablito, remember that a master’s in anything will do. When are you going to get your master’s?” It turns out that I started my master’s exactly five years after earning my bachelor’s. When my abuelita passed away a few months later, she knew that I had started my master’s.

During the two and a half years it took to earn my master’s, I was working full-time as a marketing executive and my wife and I had two small children. For 12 to 18 hours per day, six to seven days per week, I was working, going to class, studying and spending as much time as I could with the family. There was no way around it. It was just a massive amount of work that had to get done. I remember walking into my first class and the professor saying, “You’ll be reading six books, writing a paper every week, and you’ll have mid-terms and finals.” I was stunned at the quantity and quality of work required.

There were a few things that helped me make it through the two and a half years and all of the work it took to earn my Master of Science in Management from SDSU. First and foremost was the love and support of my family. I couldn’t have done it without them. My wife and children were there with me every step of the way. The second was that I was fulfilling the “mission from grandma.” She worked so hard for so many years and made so many sacrifices that I felt privileged to have the opportunity to go to college and earn a master’s. The third was the feeling of belonging and support I got from being a member of NSHMBA (now Prospanica).

The journey to earning my master’s was a challenging one. During those early mornings, long days and late nights I remember thinking, “I only have to do this once. Once I’m done I’ll have a master’s for the rest of my life. I am not alone. There are others out there who are working just as hard, who are struggling and who are making the same sacrifices to earn their master’s degrees and advance in their careers and their lives.” As a member of Prospanica, remember you are not alone. There are thousands of others like you out there working hard to earn their master’s degrees. Be encouraged, earning your master’s is a lifetime achievement.

Pablo Schneider is a Lifetime Member of Prospanica whose focus is on growing MWBE companies, publishing articles in national media outlets and advancing diverse leaders.