“I DID IT.
I’m a college graduate.”
A few weeks ago at Fusion, we had the opportunity to hear how the LiFE program, a collaboration between University of Memphis and FedEx delivered on the Brightspace platform, has had an impact on Joe Kelly, a front-line manager at FedEx.
Last week, Joe, along with a few other FedEx employees, graduated from University of Memphis, exactly one year to the day that the program was launched at the FedEx Memphis hub.
Graduation was very exciting and emotional. On Friday, I had to pick my cap and gown up. On the way home, I stopped by the cemetery and visited my mom’s grave. I put some articles and the trail from my gown on some flowers that were there. I got real emotional and started to cry. When I left, a country song by Cole Swindell was playing on the radio: “You should be here.” It was then that I completely lost it as I realized I finally made it. My journey was coming to an end. I fulfilled a promise and a dream I thought would never have taken place.
– Joe Kelly, Front-line Manager, FedEx
During the ceremony I kept saying to myself, “This is really happening.” When I walked across the stage, Dr. Irwin presented my diploma to me and it took everything I had not to tear up. Once I got back to my chair, I remember sitting down and thinking, “I DID IT. I’m a college graduate.” My whole family was there – my father, brothers, sister, wife, kids, nieces, nephews, work group employees. The support I had was incredible.
– Joe Kelly, Front-line Manager, FedEx
Here are a few pictures from that day. We also spoke with Joe a couple of days ago, just before he was heading outside to do some plane de-icing training for the upcoming winter season. He passed along his thanks to D2L for hosting him at Fusion and shared how completing his degree filled such an enormous gap in his life. He remarked that this was the first time in his life that he was excited about where the future could take him and what will come next.
Isn’t that amazing?
We are inviting Joe to our Chicago Skills Summit and CLO Symposium conference in October to share his story about lifelong learning with that audience and to further our thought leadership discussions on upskilling in the workplace and educator/employer workforce partnerships.
Additional Skills Assets
Robbin Page, Vice President of Human Resources, FedEx Express Dr. Richard Irwin, Executive Dean, Courtney Brafford, Director, Student Success Services, Scott Vann, Instructional Designer, and Barrett Schwartz, Virtual Learning Resources, University of Memphis
Over 60% of today’s students will graduate into jobs that don’t yet exist.
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