MC grad’s career success is fueled by the desire to learnMarch 29, 2018

Mahatma Ghandi said, “Live as if you were to die tomorrow.  Learn as if you were to live forever.” 

Perhaps Alma Martinez lives by this motto because even though she has been out of high school for 26 years and has a full-time job and four children, she continually strives to learn more.  She has been in and out of college obtaining various degrees since 1992 and plans to start an online MBA program at Sul Ross State University in August.

“I’ve actually been enrolled in Midland College programs three times,” explained Martinez.  “The first time was right after I graduated from Ozona High School in 1992.  I attended Midland College for two years, and then in 1994, I began working for AT&T as a bilingual operator.”

Martinez was employed at AT&T for 14 years.  She continually strived to learn more about the company and said that she was always eager to take advantage of professional development opportunities.  Her growing knowledge of the company coupled with her talent and skill led to several promotions within AT&T, and she worked her way up to customer service positions and eventually management.

In 2007, Martinez decided to enroll in Midland College again and became interested in the college’s Health Information Management program.  She took classes on a part-time basis and continued to work full time at AT&T.

“I liked the aspect of learning more about the business side of healthcare,” said Martinez. 

In fact, she was enjoying the field of health records coupled with information technology so much that in 2008, she left AT&T with the intention of going to school full time.  However, she found that there is a huge demand for people trained in medical records, and her knowledge of the health records field led to a position in the Health Information Management department of Midland Memorial Hospital. 

Martinez continued to attend Midland College part-time, and in 2011, she graduated with an Associate of Applied Science degree.   It wasn’t long, however, before her desire to learn more led her once again to Midland College—this time as a student in the Organizational Management program.

Alma and her husband Chris were raising four children, and Alma had a full-time job at Midland Memorial Hospital; however, she managed to find time to attend school part-time.  In May 2016, she graduated from Midland College with a Bachelor’s degree in Applied Technology.

Just like at AT&T, Martinez managed to work her way up the ladder at Midland Memorial Hospital, and eventually her responsibilities included overseeing physicians’ credentials in the Medical Staff Services department.

In February 2018, Martinez decided to combine her love of learning and being in an educational environment with her skills in health information and accepted the position of advisor/clinical coordinator for Midland College’s Health Information Management program. 

“I love being able to show and teach people about the business side of health,” said Martinez.  “This field is growing rapidly; the job outlook is tremendous.  All the classes are taught online, and students can take classes on a part-time basis like I did or full-time.  The faculty are knowledgeable, and even though the program is completely online, the faculty are also very accessible.  The fact that I went through the program myself helps when I’m advising students who are thinking about starting it.  The whole area of health records is a career field that a lot of people don’t even know exists, but the job potential is tremendous, and salaries are very competitive.

“A lot of the students I meet are in the exact same place in life where I was when I decided to start the program—they have families that demand a lot of their time.  This program lends itself to parents with family and job responsibilities because it is online; however, it’s still important to be a good time manager.  I tell people that if you have the willingness to do it, you’ll get through it.  After all, I’m living proof that a happy life is one spent always wanting to learn more.”