How Kendall Earned Her Degree in 17 Months While Working Full Time

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Kendall Espinoza, an accommodations specialist at Penn Foster, is more than just an employee at the school helping support students and making sure they feel heard, recognized, and appreciated – she's also a Penn Foster graduate herself! In fact, she completed both her Business Management Associate Degree and Business Management Bachelor’s Degree online in just 17 months.

Like many adults going back to school, it wasn’t just about earning a degree – it was about proving something to herself. And she did it all while working, managing life as a homeowner, and staying committed to her goals.

In this blog, learn more about her experience with online college and her advice to other students considering enrolling.

Why Kendall decided to get her college degree

Kendall’s decision to enroll was personal.

“College is a privilege. Not everyone has the opportunity to go to college,” she shared. “I am actually the first college graduate in my immediate family.”

That milestone meant something big, not just for Kendall, but for her family, too.

At the time, she was already working closely with Penn Foster students. The more she supported learners in her role, the more she wanted to understand their experience firsthand.

“I realized the best way that I can support our students is if I know exactly what they are dealing with and touching on a daily basis,” she said.

Read more: Going Back to School as an Adult (FAQs)

Taking the first step

Kendall started with an associate degree before deciding to keep going.

“I was actually enrolled in the associate’s first. I was like, ‘Okay, let me kind of test the waters, see how I’m going to do,’” she said.

She finished her associate degree in about 10 months, then something clicked. She knew she didn’t want to stop there.

“It was like a fire was lit under me. I was like, ‘Okay, I’ve gone this far. Let’s keep going.’”

She then enrolled in the Business Management Bachelor’s Degree and finished that in about 7 months, bringing her total time to graduation to around 17 months. Since she had completed the associate’s degree with Penn Foster, many of the classes she did were able to transfer into the bachelor’s degree, saving her from repeating what she’d already learned and helping her finish much earlier.

The flexibility of being able to do classwork around her work and her life – as well as a lot of motivation – really helped her push forward and reach the finish line as soon as she could.

Read more: 6 Tips for Going Back to College or Career School as an Adult

Why the flexibility of online school made a difference

Kendall was working full time and managing a home at the same time she was working toward earning her degrees.

“I am a homeowner. Yay,” she said with a laugh. But then came the reality behind it: “Taking care of my home and grocery shopping and the 9-to-5… a lot of times you get home at the end of the day and you’re just ready to call it quits.”

Finding the time and motivation to sit back down at a computer and study or take exams after a full day can be so hard. But that’s where Penn Foster’s online learning model and flexibility really made a difference.

“The flexibility of this program is huge because that allows me to study in the middle of the night if I can’t sleep,” Kendall said. “Or on the weekends, whenever it makes the most sense for me.”

For adult learners balancing work, family responsibilities, or a busy household, that kind of freedom matters. Instead of rearranging life around class times, Kendall could fit school into the moments that worked for her.

“If you’re a night owl and you can’t sleep like me, then make that study time work for you,” she said.

Read more: 10 Study Tips From Real Students

Kendall’s best time management tip

Even though flexibility can be amazing for a busy adult learner enrolled in online college, that freedom can sometimes be hard to manage. The trick is figuring out how to best manage your time in a way that works for you.

Ask Kendall what helped her stay on track, and her answer is simple: treat study time like it matters, because it does.

“I like to study in time blocks. So, I block off study times, like appointments,” she said.

That mindset helped her protect her goals, even when distractions popped up.

“It’s a promise I’ve made to myself, and I want to carry through on that promise.”

That definitely doesn’t mean every day looked the same. One of Kendall’s most relatable insights is that consistency is not about pushing yourself to the same limit every day. It’s about showing up honestly.

“If I can’t do 2 hours today, let’s just do whatever my 100% today looks like,” she said. “And your 100% every day may look different. Maybe your 100% today is 15 minutes, but at least you’re 15 minutes further into studying.”

That kind of self-awareness can be the difference between giving up and keeping going.

A better way to think about motivation

Kendall also shared a mindset trick that helped her start when she did not feel like it: the 30-minute rule.

“I like to set a 30-minute timer just to get started,” she said. “I’m promising myself that I will work on it for 30 minutes.”

More often than not, getting started was the hardest part.

“Once the 30-minute timer goes off, I’m already in the mode. I’m already going. I’m like, let’s just go ahead and finish it, right?”

Kendall also learned to reframe mistakes along the way.

“Instead of a failure, it’s just data on how I can do better next time,” she said.

That shift helped her move away from perfectionism and toward progress. “Celebrating progress and not the perfection” became part of her approach.

The study skills that worked best for Kendall

Kendall quickly learned that simply copying notes was not the same as learning.

“I noticed myself writing everything down. I’m like, ‘Oh, that sounds important. Write it down,’” she said.

Eventually, she started taking more intentional notes by summarizing material in her own words.

“I would read a section or a paragraph and summarize it in my own words,” she explained. That made the information easier to understand later and easier to remember when test time came around.

She also avoided relying only on cramming. Instead, she reviewed material regularly using:

• flashcards
• self-quizzing tools
• AI as a study partner

One of her more creative strategies was using AI to quiz her out loud.

“I would provide some study questions and say, ‘Quiz me on this information,’” Kendall said. “Sometimes just reading and writing the information can get kind of boring, so I like to mix it up and have that verbal dialect.”

For online learners who may be studying solo, that kind of interactive practice can make studying feel more engaging.

Read more: 8 Online Degrees That Pay Well & You Can Start Today

How Kendall worked through a challenging assignment

Like many students, Kendall hit a moment in her program where an assignment felt overwhelming.

“I came across an assignment and I opened it and the instruction page was very long,” she said. “There included multiple documents that needed to be uploaded and I was like, this is going to be a lot of work. So I moved on past it.”

Instead of forcing herself to tackle everything at once, she gave herself space, then came back with a plan.

“What can I do right now that are smaller chunks that I can take care of? I don’t have to do it all in one setting, right?”

That became her strategy: break the big thing into smaller steps.

“Let’s just do the first section. Let’s just do the Excel section and then we’ll do the Word section and then we’ll do the next step.”

It is such a simple idea, but it is one many learners need to hear. When something feels intimidating, the answer is not always to push harder. Sometimes it is to make the task smaller.

The mindset that helped her finish

Kendall’s story is about discipline, sure, but it’s also about giving yourself grace. She kept short-term and long-term goals. She adjusted when needed. She kept reminding herself that graduation was not the only marker that mattered.

“What can I do right now that will get me closer to the ultimate finish line?” she asked herself.

That question helped her stay grounded in the present instead of getting overwhelmed by everything left to do.

And when things felt difficult, she came back to the reason she began.

“Don’t forget why you started,” Kendall said. “I know it can be daunting and troubling sometimes whenever you’re in the middle of it, but remember why you started.”

What other adults going back to school can take away from Kendall’s story

Kendall’s experience is a powerful example of what can happen when adult learners have flexibility, support, and a clear reason to keep going. She wasn’t waiting for perfect conditions to enroll and get a degree, or even the perfect times to study. She was building progress in real life, one study block, one assignment, one small promise to herself at a time.

Her story offers a few clear reminders to other students out there:

• You do not need a perfect schedule to make meaningful progress.
• Your effort may look different from day to day, and that is okay.
• Big goals become manageable when you break them into smaller steps.
• Progress matters more than perfection.
• The reason you started can carry you further than motivation alone.

Or, as Kendall put it: “You’re just going to be stronger on the other side of it and you’ll be so, so proud that you did.”

Read more: Real Student Stories: How Kelsy Found Her Path as a Mom, Military Spouse, and Future RVT

Learn more about going back to college as an adult online

Through determination and the help of flexible, online college classes, it’s possible for any adult to go back to school and earn their degree! Whether, like Kendall, you want to study business or you’re interested in another field, it’s never too late to start working toward your goals. If you want to learn more about how to go back to school as an adult or Penn Foster’s online degrees, you can reach out to our dedicated Admissions Specialists for help at 1-800-275-4410 or request more info.

Want to learn more about how online school has worked for other students? Check out our student stories on the blog.