Career-Changing Degrees Fuel Six DU Graduate Students’ Paths to Impact

Having embraced career pivots, expanded their outlooks, and acquired new skills, six University of Denver graduate students are ready to turn their learning into lasting impact. 

These soon-to-be alumni share a common thread: the courage to rethink their futures. Read about their paths to commencement day below. 

Arenthia Hammond

Degree: MA in Research Methods and Statistics; graduate certificate in Business Analytics

Arenthia Hammond loved teaching math and science to second and third graders in Tampa, Florida. However, after witnessing inequitable practices and unsettling trends that affected her community and students, she felt a shift was necessary. This realization ultimately led her to pursue a master’s degree in Research Methods and Statistics at the Morgridge College of Education.

How do you plan to use what you’ve learned in your future career?

Grad school has built my confidence and leadership skills to where I know that wherever I go, I can take it on full force.

What were the most rewarding aspects of pursuing an advanced degree?

The power of shifting your mind and being open to new opportunities, perspectives, and knowledge pathways. I hope to help create or contribute equitable practices that build communities. 

Craig Aldrink

Degree: Professional MBA

An advanced degree was always on Craig Aldrink’s radar, it was just a matter of when. His decision to pursue a professional MBA has opened a lot of doors for the future.

How do you plan to use what you’ve learned in your future career?

As I move up and get more experience, it'll help me talk to different people. If I'm running projects, I can talk finance, the technical side of things, sales, and I’ll have a better understanding of the different aspects. 

What are the most rewarding aspects of pursuing an advanced degree?

The one aspect that people don't recognize is the different backgrounds within the degree. We have nurses, finance people, people from the military, all bringing unique mindsets that you wouldn't encounter in everyday experiences.

When I come to class and we’re talking about economics, I have my own perceived mindset and biases but then I hear from other people who have their own thoughts, and they are slightly different and challenge what I know. That is one of the coolest aspects about the program: learning just as much from other classmates as the professors themselves.

Rosepetal Van de Graaf

Degree: MA in International Development

Rosepetal Van de Graaf’s introduction to the nonprofit world involved working with vulnerable communities, and she found it to be incredibly rewarding. However, she reached a point where she wanted to grow her knowledge and skills. DU is helping her make a bigger impact on the world.

What impact do you hope to have after graduation?

I hope to mentor young people thinking about grad school, because I know what that has done for me as a person. As far as my career is concerned, I'm looking forward to taking on all the opportunities that come my way with confidence, knowing that I'm an alumnus of a great school. I'm ready for anything that comes my way, however big or small; I'm going to take it on and give it my best.

What are the most rewarding aspects of pursuing an advanced degree?

It has given me an introduction to some of the challenges that the world is facing, and how we can start to approach the solution finding process. Grad school has pushed me toward being more of a problem solver rather than just leaving it at identifying the problem.

Emma Bourgraf

Degree: MBA and Master of Science in Applied Quantitative Finance

When Emma Bourgraf and her husband moved to Denver in 2018, they were both working remotely and didn’t know many people. Once Bourgraf decided to go back to school, DU provided an opportunity to widen her network and meet new people.

How do you plan to use what you’ve learned in your future career?

Daniels [College of Business] teaches you how to work with people from diverse backgrounds. When I think about becoming a leader, I'm going to be leading people from all different types of backgrounds and all different ways of life. The school gave me a low-risk situation to test that. 

What impact do you hope to have after graduation?

I want to show people that no matter how bad things are, how challenging they are, that there is good. If you surround yourself with the right people, everything will be OK.

Canace Finley

Degree: Master of Library and Information Science

After playing volleyball as an undergrad and professionally overseas, Canace Finley was at a crossroads. Finely didn’t even know the degree she will soon receive was an option, but she decided to take a job at a local library in Aspen, Colo., to see if she’d like it, and—sure enough—a lightbulb went off: this is where she should be.

What are the most rewarding aspects of pursuing an advanced degree?

I was taking classes that I was interested in and enjoyed. Even in my first quarter, it was rewarding to realize that I was learning so much and there was still so much to learn. 

What will you miss most about DU?

My friends and the community I’ve created. I’m also going to miss attending school because I love to learn. 

Haydee Ducay-Fajardo 

Degree: MA in Media and Public Communication; graduate certificate in Public Diplomacy

After working in public relations and communications for a few years in the Philippines, Haydee Ducay-Fajardo took a leap and applied for the Fulbright Program—having never left the country before. DU was her top choice because the program offered both theory and skill-based courses.

What are the most rewarding aspects of pursuing an advanced degree?

The intellectual growth. Going to DU and learning from professors who have experiences in other parts of the world has enriched my life and provided a more nuanced understanding of the world.

What is one lesson you are taking away from your time as a grad student?

Do everything out of love. Every paper you write, every discussion you engage in, do it out of love, not out of this assumption that you are better than others. It’s understanding that we all have differences and come from different backgrounds but after having meaningful conversations, we realize that we’re all people.