“I Won't Stop Until You Call Me Dr.”

Every semester since graduating from high school 28 years ago, Sheryl Diane Allen said she would go back to school and get her degree. While a sergeant with the Houston Police Department for 21 years, she drifted in and out of different community colleges, but never pieced enough classes together for a degree. Then she found AIU Houston. She graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration in June 2005. Now that she has that, she’s on a roll: Sheryl just started a Master’s program.

“I wanted to finish what I had started. When I finally got serious about it, I had a son who was getting ready to get married. He had about as many college classes as I did, and I begged him and his fiancé to finish college before they got married. I was thinking that if I had finished school, maybe he would understand why it was so important for him to finish.”

Sitting in classes the first week, Sheryl couldn’t believe it had taken her so long to finally commit. “I was like 'what took me so long?’ There’s nothing to be afraid of here. But at least I finally did make it. I told my dad, 'I love this so much, I’m not going to stop until you call me Dr.’”

Helping to make earning her Bachelor’s degree easier was the simplicity with which Sheryl was able to transfer all the credits she had previously earned at Houston-area community colleges. “There were very, very few classes I had to take again. My transfer credits took care of much of the general education requirements of the degree program, and I was able to mostly concentrate on classes for my major.”

It’s not just the degrees Sheryl wants though. She loves to learn. “AIU classes were challenging. I never felt like I could sleep through them. My instructors were great! They understood my anxiety when I first started. Their encouragement continued to boost my confidence. It was a win-win partnership.”

Since she finally had made the commitment, Sheryl was determined to make the most of it. “I paid for this degree myself. I started with the attitude that I was spending lots of money. I would add up how much each class cost and then get every dime I was paying out of it. I have no doubt I got what I paid for.”

Although Sheryl hasn’t changed her life much since graduating with her Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration-she’s babysitting grandkids and enjoying retirement from the Houston Police Department-she does have definite plans for the Master’s degree in Telecommunications she recently started: combining it with her AIU business degree, she will host and co-produce her own television show. She hasn’t decided on the format yet, but she believes that after finishing what she started with a degree from AIU, the sky is the limit. “I can do anything.”

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