FULLERTON COLLEGE CENTENNIAL
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ALUMNI STORIES: RAYANNE THORN
RAYANNE THORN
Fullerton College Represented the Opportunity to Change my Life
I was a mother of four young children when I realized my marriage was most likely over. I had gone to Indiana University 16 years prior and to become a certified dental assistant. And while I had always worked at least part-time, I knew this career would not support a single mom and family. Not only that, but I knew I had more in me - more to learn, more to do, more to give.
I viewed Fullerton College as my path to the future, a future that would support not only my family, but also my dreams. In the fall of 1998, I started taking Saturday classes at Fullerton, to get back in the swing of learning and also to provide the least interruption to my busy family's schedule. After seven straight semesters I took Saturday classes, my marriage ended. Spring semester 2002, I took my first Monday class - Modern Dramatic Literature with Bob Jensen. I thanked him after class one day, he didn't know why and I didn't know why - I was just feeling thankful.
As I left class, I stopped at the bulletin boards in the theater hall to read alumni news and bits about auditions and upcoming shows. One section shared job openings in the area - I was working two part-time jobs, as well as taking five classes that semester. Money was not only tight, there was none. I had no idea where my next tank of gas would come from. I perused the job section and one listing caught my eye - "Make money making calls - Theater experience a plus - Work around your school schedule - Call for details" with a phone number displayed. I made the call, scheduled an interview for the next day and was immediately offered a job doing "Name Sourcing" for an executive search firm. I started work there within a few days - but now working three part-time jobs and attending Fullerton College.
That job and my time at Fullerton changed my life.
I fell in love with business and the corporate world, I changed my major and kept working at it. I finally left my other two jobs after being promoted to executive recruiter full-time but continued taking classes at Fullerton. After eight years, squeezing in as many classes as my schedule would allow, I transferred to Vanguard University in Costa Mesa to achieve my business degree which I completed in 2009.
Though I was only able to take a few theater classes at Fullerton, the department and what it offered to the community became my anchor during a very turbulent time in my life. I was often hungry, physically and metaphorically; going to Fullerton fed me intellectually and made me believe that I could do more, that I could be more. In addition to General Ed classes and Theater courses, I also took several writing classes. These classes sparked a long-time love of poetry and writing which I had buried away for many years. Writing helped me to find clarity in my work and re-define my life path. And I haven't stopped writing since.
Since October of 2009, I have worked as the Marketing Director for global recruiting software company Broadbean Technology and I still write - every day. My daily writing Bonus Track was featured on RecruitingBlogs.com for 2.5 years and in August of 2011, I moved Bonus Track to Blogging4Jobs.com where I write 5-8 times a week with over 100,000 monthly visits to our site. In June 2012, I was invited to write for a new section in the Huffington Post called Opportunity - What is Working? I produce content twice weekly for The Huffington Post. Having written and published nearly 1 million words of content, I can honestly say that writing is the single greatest thing I have done for my life and my career.
During one of my theater classes at Fullerton College, I read the book Backwards and Forwards by David Ball. It was a method of understanding action, place, and time in scripts - recognizing the forwards and backwards in a script/storyline to see and understand how the play works. This became a method for my life. My "forward" was that I could see a diploma in my hand at the end of my long and dusty road. If I could share anything with Fullerton Students, it would be, "Never Give Up. Never."
Managing life crisis is part of being an adult.
“Every time you complete a course or survive a hardship, you are setting a self-precedent of success. Picture that diploma in your hand. Never lose sight of it. It will come.”