(WACO, Texas) – Two Texas State Technical College alumnae have been hired by Cisco.
Among the company’s many accolades, Cisco has been named on the Fortune 100 Best Places to Work list for the 22nd year in a row.
Lori Wise and Ruusa Bolton are training to become technical consulting engineers at Cisco.
“IT (information technology) is very exciting. Everything is really happening at such a fast pace,” Bolton said. “Nothing stays new for a long time. There’s always something new happening; it’s an innovative field. What you are striving for is to remain relevant in an ever-changing industry.”
Before attending TSTC, Bolton served as an engineer in the U.S. military.
“People should not be afraid of technical fields,” Bolton said. “It’s probably one of the most learnable industries. No one expects you to know everything. As long as you have a problem-solving mindset, everything else can be taught.”
Bolton encourages more people, especially women, to pursue technical careers.
“Women should be courageous and not feel that they’re restricted, because we don’t see enough women in the field,” Bolton said. “Right now, the time is ripe with opportunity.”
Wise taught special education for 13 years. She discovered her love for technology after continually fixing computer issues at school.
“After I left teaching, I still wanted to make an impact on the world, and I can do that through technology,” Wise said. “I never thought after teaching for 13 years that I would be at a Fortune 500 company. So don’t limit yourself. Don’t look at a job description and go, ‘I don’t have all that,’ and not apply.”
Both women are excited to work for Cisco and love the working environment the company provides.
“I knew that Cisco was where I wanted to be, and nothing was getting in the way of that,” Wise said. “I love how you can innovate. I can play around with problems, make my own patch or make my own invention.”
“Cisco has a very inclusive policy when it comes to women empowerment and diversity,” Bolton said. “You can really see more credible and visible representation.”
John Washington, a TSTC Computer Networking and Systems Administration associate professor, said he was happy for the success Bolton and Wise have had. He also said the alumnae are great examples for current students.
“There are certain people that are going to be successful in life just because of their attitude,” Washington said. “The fact that they’ve gotten this far proves it. Hopefully it will encourage other students to know that they can be successful by seeing our graduates out there doing well.”
For more information on Texas State Technical College, go to www.tstc.edu.
