Rio Salado Graduate Encourages Others to Celebrate Themselves

Rio Salado Graduate Encourages Others to Celebrate Themselves

Just as the global pandemic started to simmer in the winter of 2019, Rio Salado College student Tisha Renee Williams earned a certificate of completion in insurance studies with a goal to increase her odds in the applicant pool in order to advance at her company. 

“My ultimate goal in insurance has always been to educate people, especially those in my demographic, about the importance of insurance and the understanding of how we must protect what is valuable,” she said.

However, when the pandemic hit, she desired a way to more directly help those in need. After going through the application process, she joined the 2020 cohort for Mesa Community College’s Nurse Assisting Program and eventually completed the program in December 2021. 

Then, when the calendar pages flipped to May 2022, Williams was sure to celebrate both achievements by attending one commencement ceremony at Rio Salado College for insurance studies and also one commencement ceremony at Mesa Community College for nurse assisting. Williams also celebrated her accomplishments by attending the African American Convocation and the American Indian Convocation, which were both cultural commencements organized by the Maricopa County Community College District.

“I’m so proud people persevered and got to celebrate themselves,” she said. “I am sure there were approximately 75-90 percent of us who lost someone directly connected to us, or we lost someone directly outside of our circle. We’ve all been through so much collectively and we had to strive through it. We had to survive. So, it was so good to celebrate together.”

Williams started at Rio Salado College in spring 2018 through a corporate partnership program. Working in healthcare during the pandemic made her appreciate the insurance field even more because she said it made her realize that our bodies, our health, and our well-being are our most valuable assets. While she is now a healthcare essential worker, she continues to work toward her risk management and insurance associates degree from Rio Salado College.

“What COVID did was not only change the fabric of our lives and how we interact with each other, but it changed insurance dramatically because we had to learn how to adapt in a very high stakes, highly paced and quickly moving health crisis,” she said. “It changed the way to insure people and changed the way people qualify for insurance, and their insurability. All of a sudden, we had to approach the verification, identity protection and asset management processes differently. Insurance and healthcare are intricately and delicately intertwined. Insurance is such an awesome area of study and it is beautifully married to the art of the care of ourselves – the science of medicine and healthcare.”    

She goes on to say, “Another reason I’m interested in insurance is because we will always need to protect what we find valuable. Insurance and healthcare are definitely fields where I will find job security. People will always need to be taken care of and need to protect themselves and their assets.”

Williams remains driven to complete the necessary certificates and education to one day own her own insurance agency. She carefully looks through the course schedules to ensure she completes everything in sequential order. It is another reason why attending in-person commencement was so important.

“We worked really hard right before COVID, but also there is the work we did during COVID and I wanted to celebrate,” she said of going to multiple commencements. “Rio Salado’s commencement was the most important to me. Multiple times, I had failed my insurance tests. The tests can be taken segmented or comprehensive. It took me a while to figure out my learning style and testing style. I spent a lot of money and tears to earn my designations from the Institutes and to earn my Certification of Completion from Rio Salado.”

The Institutes is the American Institute For Chartered Property Casualty Underwriters, which provides additional education to those in the insurance field. The Institutes gives designations, which correlate to a certificate or an associates degree. In her case, Williams simultaneously earned the associate in insurance (AINS) designation from The Institutes alongside a certificate of completion (CCL) in insurance studies from Rio Salado College. 

“I was really proud of myself and wanted to celebrate with everyone else. I knew we would have a good time together. We hadn’t seen each other in almost three years. It was bittersweet.”

Williams said she really appreciated the cultural and heritage convocations the District organized for students and the authentic features of both, including dance troops, drummers and spoken word artists. Finding someone else who identifies with her Native heritage was another plus.

“The cultural convocations took the cake for me, emotionally,” she said. “I didn’t have family out here due to COVID and the timing. Honestly, I didn’t really believe we were going to be able to have any commencements. I am glad we did because they were really special to all of us. The graduations were on another level. The camaraderie, the live, in-person communion and the opportunity to see everyone celebrate their identity and their accomplishments was really special.”

“This past month of May was the most exciting thing in my life over the past five years because the past two years were especially filled with heartache, devastating loss and life upsets all in a paralyzing pandemic. But by the grace of God, we made it out on the other side… whole and intact, free and empowered.”

She laughs and says, “This month was a lot of work and a tremendous amount of planning with a lot of make-up, many wardrobe changes with pretty dresses and gorgeous outfits and big, beautiful hair! It was so worth it! I definitely do not look like what I’ve been through!”