When School Calls You Back

Jessi Kingston
Age: 34
Attended: College of St. Catherine
Program of study: Leaders of the New Millennium
Lives: Edina
Fun fact: She started a new job as a purchasing manager at Digital River the same month that she began her new round of studies at St. Kate’s.

Although Jessi Kingston already has a bachelor’s degree from Macalester College and an MBA from Metropolitan State University, she began to feel that career preparation wasn’t just about changing companies or getting promoted—it was about developing leadership skills that could carry her throughout her professional life.

While working at ING as a sourcing specialist, Kingston attended luncheon events at the College of St. Catherine and found herself drawn to Leaders of the New Millennium, a program comprised of eight learning sessions that focus on creating individual strategic development career plans and equipping students with leadership skills. Kingston felt that the program could help her to build her professional toolkit, but also extend into other parts of her life.

“The program helps me tap into what kind of a leader I am, what my strengths are,” she says. “An MBA program gives you textbook knowledge of business, but something like this really helps you discover who you are.”

Geared specifically for working adults, the program requires students to do a series of retreats and evening seminars, and provides access to career coaches who can meet at night or over the phone. Kingston began the program believing that she’d get more solid ground for her career path, but found that it also positively affected her friendships and even illuminated different aspects of her personality.

“I’ve begun to see how I operate in terms of risktaking and creativity, and how I handle situations,” she says. “I’ve never seen a program that uses so many different tools that help you learn who you are as a person.”

For example, Kingston discovered that she’s at her most creative when working in a small group, not tackling projects solo. That knowledge has helped her to reconfigure how she does her work, and made her think about how she handles situations in her personal life as well.

She’s been able to ease back into academic life, she adds, because the way the program is structured fits the way she likes to study. “I don’t think I could be in a classroom setting, where I’m just taking notes and writing papers,” she says. “That structure doesn’t appeal to me.”

It was initially challenging to drum up the motivation to do homework, Kingston admits, but now she finds that she looks forward to it because it brings the promise of more insight into what makes her tick. “I never thought I’d be the kind of person who wanted to do homework,” she says. “But it’s been great.”