Stephanie Bailey

In May of 2012, I graduated from Cal State Dominguez Hills with a BA in History. It had been a long road to get here but I am so glad I chose CSUDH and history. The connections, friendships, experiences, and the education I received while at Dominguez have helped me navigate the post college world. While I didn’t wind up going into the field of work I had planned on after graduating, the skills I had learned from the BA in History helped me to learn, grow and succeed in the field I did get into. 

After graduating I had planned on working in research for a think tank or the government. Unfortunately, I didn’t get accepted to my first choice of CSULB and missed the application deadline for CSUF. I decided to join the “family” business and went into corrugated box manufacturing. 

About two years in, I was given the opportunity to fill-in for the Process Improvement Manager; leading meetings, gathering data for root cause analysis, and presenting this information in meetings. The research, analysis, and compilation skills I learned at CSUDH helped me to quickly grow in this position and opened an opportunity for me. The company has a program called the Manufacturing Management Associate program (MMA), which requires a bachelor’s degree, yet another benefit from my time at CSUDH. I applied and was accepted in 2016. 

There were 18 people in my class and most had degrees in mechanical engineering, I was the only one with a history degree and I was proud of it! In one of the classes, we travelled to Rochester NY where I was I was offered a position. I stayed there for two and a half years with increasing responsibilities and transferred back to California in August of 2019. 

None of what I have achieved so far would have been possible without first having a foundation built on the degree I earned at CSUDH or the support of great professors like Dr. Talamante. In the subsequent time I have spent in the manufacturing/business world I have learned invaluable skills around personal growth, leadership, developing people, manufacturing principles, and most of all, the value of relationships with the people you work with. I am so very excited about the future and can’t wait for the next stage to begin.