HAMLET — Going to school full time and working full time was quite a challenge for Winslow Ratliff, but he didn’t let that stop him from graduating with an associate degree in business administration from Richmond Community College in 2015. A former resident of Scotland County, Ratliff is now a financial sales representative with a bank in Raleigh.
“I would honestly like to say that Richmond Community College made a huge impact on my life, and if I would not have had the push from the professors, I would not be where I am today,” he said. “Quitting was not an option, only success!”
Ratliff’s instructors quickly recognized his commitment to graduate despite the struggle of balancing his work and studies, so many of them offered extra office hours to assist him when he needed it. They also encouraged him to keep working toward that degree and use every resource at the College, such as the writing center and tutoring services, to be successful.
“It is so hard to just choose one instructor who impacted my life, because everyone played such an important role in my tenure at RichmondCC,” Ratliff said. “Dr. Devon Hall, Mrs. Kim Parsons and Ms. Matilda Davis, all of these individuals knew me literally by voice because of the many phone calls or office visits.”
Ratliff said Davis put in a lot of extra time outside of class helping him understand concepts that he was struggling to grasp.
“She was so unselfish with her time, even having two daughters at home to raise,” he said.
The classes in the business administration program, such as accounting, customer service and business law, really prepared Ratliff for his career in the world of financial banking. He said he uses little nuggets that he learned in each class every day in his job.
Ratliff plans to attend North Carolina Central University in the fall to work on his bachelor’s degree in business administration with a concentration in human resources. This is a far stretch from the guy who once said, “going off to a university was not for me,” but RichmondCC has prepared him for this next step in his educational pursuit.
Ratliff said he learned many life lessons while at RichmondCC, and it set him on the path to a better life and a good career.
“I looked into attending different schools, but after visiting Richmond Community College, I knew it was for me,” Ratliff said. “It has great employees who are ready and excited about helping you become the best you that you can be.”
Wylie D. Bell is director of marketing and communications at Richmond Community College.