Finishing my undergraduate degree is one of my greatest accomplishments, but it almost didn’t happen. Being the first in my family expected to graduate, the pressure was on. Yet, in my rush to kickstart my adulthood, I nearly threw it all away—and learned a brutal lesson about corporate loyalty along the way.
During my last two years of college, I was working as the assistant manager at the Royal Fork Buffet in Greeley. I loved it. I was succeeding, and I had great relationships with my manager and the district manager. So, when they offered me a promotion in November to run my own store in Aurora come January, I was ecstatic.
There was just one catch: they couldn’t wait until March for me to graduate. I had exactly one quarter left, which included two mandatory, once-a-year courses. Terrified of post-grad unemployment, I fell back on the old axiom, “A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.” I told myself I’d just finish my degree later.
My roommate, Jerry, wasn’t buying it. When registration day arrived, I refused to go. Jerry literally dragged me to the ballroom anyway. In those days, registering meant physically pulling IBM cards from professors’ tables and taking them to a central computer processing desk. Grudgingly, I went through the motions, pulled my cards, and went home to look for apartments in Aurora. I had zero intention of actually attending those classes.
Then, right between Thanksgiving and Christmas, lightning struck.
It turned out the owner of Royal Fork was under investigation for a severe lack of diversity in leadership. Under intense pressure to fix it immediately, the company pivoted. My promised promotion vanished, given to a female coworker instead. Worse yet, I was demoted to head cook to make room for a new assistant manager. With one swift corporate wave of the hand, my future was rewritten.
I hated to admit it, but Jerry had saved me. Because he forced me to register, I was able to stay in school, finish my classes, and graduate on time.
I left Royal Fork and joined the Woolco division of the Woolworth Company. I spent ten fantastic years there as an assistant manager, gaining top-tier retail training and having the time of my life.
That early setback taught me that while companies must ultimately prioritize their own interests, things have a funny way of working out—if you let them.
Edited for clarity by AI – Randy