Last year, Andy Ricardo, senior accountant with UM payroll, shared his take on why he decided to pursue a master’s degree through UM’s tuition remission program. He’s learned a few lessons along the way, and as he finishes his last semester at the Miami Business School, he offered advice to colleagues who may be considering to do the same.
“The decision to pursue my master’s degree wasn’t something that I determined overnight,” said Ricardo. “There were times when I worried about financial and time implications, but in the end, I knew that there would never be a perfect time to jump into something new.”
The importance of education has been a consistent part of Ricardo’s life. “I was raised by my mom in a single-parent home, and she worked multiple jobs, so she instilled in me a ‘work ’til you drop’ mentality. She would say, “You can do whatever you want, as long as you work hard enough for it,” the Hialeah native recalled.
His mother, Pura, has been a teacher for Miami-Dade County Public Schools for more than 20 years, and earned her master’s degree in educational leadership. Naturally, the emphasis on continuing education weighed heavily on Ricardo’s mind when he first considered the tuition remission benefit at UM.
Since originally sharing his story in 2017, Ricardo has fielded questions from colleagues around the University seeking advice about continuing their own studies.
“The best advice I can give is to just to do it,” he said. “There’s no better time than now and starting is the most difficult part.”
Although he echoed that new adventures always come with challenges, Ricardo encouraged everyone to explore their opportunities when it comes to tuition remission.
“I did not imagine using the tuition remission benefit when I came to UM, but once I was able to balance my work life and get situated in my role, I jumped in,” he added.
Ricardo graduated from the University of Central Florida with a bachelor’s degree in accounting in 2014 and joined UM as a full-time employee shortly thereafter. He was accepted into UM’s Master of Accounting program in 2016 and is expected to graduate at the end of the fall 2018 semester.
Editor’s note: Ricardo’s story originally published in August 2017. The University of Miami also offers tuition remission benefits for employees and their dependents. To learn more about tuition remission benefits, visit benefits.miami.edu.
