Christine Klein '02

I attended Long Beach in my early thirties and I still hadn't gotten my bachelor's, so I worked full-time and went to school at night. Long Beach made that possible for me and it took a while, but I got there and I got the degree. One of my strongest memories of Cal State Long Beach was being in a night school business class and meeting one of my best friends. We were both in the same boat, both in our thirties, both going to night school and in an accounting class that had about 200 people in it. I was the first person in my family to get a college degree and it made all the difference in the world for my career. GE Healthcare required a degree for my job and I couldn't have gotten that job without it. My greatest takeaway from my time at Long Beach State was the seriousness of the institution. The facilities were there for people like me, working class kids, to get a really high-quality education in an environment where the facilities were great. They really made an investment in the business school and I felt like the state had provided me with an opportunity that I wouldn't have had otherwise. I also remember the fun things like the bowling alley and the size of the campus that allowed for lots of opportunities to do things. Even if you weren't a full-time student, you could still partake of activities on campus if you wanted to.