Graduation cake kindly made by Sarah Winship Nurse Educator Perioperative team
– Whakatāne Hospital.
You’re never too old to learn something new
Earlier this year Whakatāne Hospital Quality
& Patient Safety Coordinator Cheryl Shearer
graduated with an MBA. Rather than travel to
Adelaide for graduation, Cheryl opted to have a
ceremony at the hospital, sharing the occasion
with her family and friends. Congratulations
Cheryl, what an achievement well deserved.
Cheryl shares her story with you here.
Sixty-one is not too old to learn
something new.
For me, by gaining by MBA I was fulfilling a promise made to my
Mom when she was dying (25 years ago) that I would complete
my study. I never got back to the Law degree I was half way
through when she died, this was a better option for me.
This was an epic 51-week personal journey spread over 14
months, while continuing to work fulltime. It was demanding work
- 12 textbooks totalling 8,407 pages read and tagged, 900 pages
of topic information and study guides read, 86 recommended
readings and 120 optional readings all read, 450 pages of notes,
11 assignments completed, 11 three-hour exams – one a month -
and the final project with a further 45 readings!
The end result, an executive Master of Business Administration.
This covers corporate governance, leadership, strategic
10
management, operational management, marketing, human
resource management and financial management, with electives
of human resources development, integrated marketing
communications, event management, and performance and
compensation.
I’m just so proud that I could burst. I did this and mostly on my
own; my husband got to confer my degree on me and family,
friends and colleagues shared my graduation and my honour with
me at Whakatāne Hospital.