The inspirational quote “When one door closes, another door opens” may encourage many people through life’s challenges, but for Larry Bialek (BSB, 2024), the land-use manager at a prominent telecommunications company in Las Vegas, the cliché doesn’t quite capture his story. Bialek’s experience is better explained as a door cracked open and left hanging on its hinges for far too long.

Bialek grew up in Baltimore in a working-class family. “I did well in high school, but it just wasn’t in the cards for me to go to college,” he explains. Bialek couldn’t get financial support, so he went out and “started life.”

After he married and started a family, Bialek figured the time was right to try for a degree. He earned nine college credits at a community college, but the struggle of balancing in-person education with parenting and a full-time job ultimately sidelined his goals.

He took a break — which “just kept going and going.” For 26 years. 

Bialek undoubtedly spent his time well, working his way up in telecommunications. He began as an entry-level residential installer, but soon realized he could do more. He started taking service-tech classes and moved into that role for a time. Next, he became a project manager on the construction team, then a regional manager at two other telecommunications companies before getting laid off during downsizing.

Bialek landed on his feet at a private company where he worked as a construction supervisor for the next 12 years. Always in the back of his mind, though, was the understanding that his lack of education could stymie his professional advancement. 

Still, Bialek continued to focus on his career growth and was hired into his current management role. The company did not require a college degree but did encourage formal training for his leadership position.

The door that had been cracked open years ago, was creaking more loudly. “It [had] been nagging at me to go back to school, to get my degree, because I know I can do it. I just never had the time.”

Fortunately, time intervened on Bialek’s behalf. First, he celebrated a milestone birthday. “When I hit 50, I [realized], ‘I have to start closing some doors.’” Around that time, the telecom industry was entering a much-needed reprieve after months of intense work setting up customers to work from home during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Bialek began researching how and where he might reenter college. There were a few options, but the processes were “just too convoluted.”

It was when his current employer hosted a wellness fair that things fell into place. University of Phoenix had a booth set up, and when Bialek started talking with UOPX representatives, he saw a twofold advantage to attending UOPX.

“It fit into my schedule. I could do the schooling at any time I wanted!” he exclaims.

Benefit number two: “We had a really good agreement through [my employer] for tuition reimbursement.” 

Once enrolled, Bialek discovered more to love about UOPX. For starters, he could apply for a Prior Learning Assessment to earn college credit for his work and life experience.

This opportunity was attractive for more than one reason. Bialek knew he could go back to school in his 50s, but he also knew he couldn’t prolong the process. “I wanted to front-load the bulk of my schooling,” Bialek shares. “I know myself. When I get into something, I like to go in hard. I will do as much work as I have to do as long as I can decelerate on the exit. I knew if I spread this out for three or four years that I might not complete [it].”

To help him achieve his goals, University of Phoenix requested transcripts for those nine college credits Bialek earned years earlier. Before his first UOPX class ended, Bialek’s earlier credits had been transferred over.

From there, Bialek needed to establish a structure to stay on track. “I had the conversation with my wife and said, ‘I need to know that if I structure certain days of the week, that I can just close my door and know that I’m not going to be asked to do this or that. Then, after I’m finished, I’ll jump back into life,’” Bialek says.

How did that look on a practical level? For starters, they agreed that Bialek would have until 6 p.m. Monday through Thursday to do homework. He also took advantage of the alternative credit providers whose self-paced courses let him double up on classes. Within five months, Bialek had knocked out 13 of those classes.

One of the most influential classes was a goal-setting course that Bialek took early in his program. He structured his entire school schedule according to its principles of establishing a one-week, a five-week and an overall goal.  

For week one, Bialek aimed to complete all homework assignments — no matter if he were taking one or two courses at that time — by Thursday. Week five’s focus was recycling the first week’s goal for five weeks. Bialek’s overarching goal was to pass his classes with an A average (which he has accomplished!) and to graduate in less than two years. 

Even though he was making progress, Bialek encountered his share of bumps and bends.

Bridget Alati, who has worked closely with Bialek for six years, recognized that his challenges were “not so much with the classwork, but more of a work-school balance.”

Bialek recalls how the struggle was learning to say no and keep himself as top priority. “From day one as a parent, everything else comes first and then you get your time,” he says. “I had to figure out in my mind that, for the next two years, I had to come first. And that was a hard thing for a dad to back out of and say, ‘Wait a minute. I have to put myself first right now.’”

Not only was Bialek accustomed to putting his family first, but he also had a long track record of mentoring and developing others inside and outside of the workforce.

Looking back, he attributes his success as a mentor to the 11 years he spent coaching kids in the Boys & Girls Club. Working with kids from all backgrounds helped him learn how to approach co-workers. “[It] really set the tone for how I interact with people in the workforce,” he says.

To date, Bialek says he has mentored hundreds of people from all walks of life. To do this, Bialek commits to making himself available and to asking the questions that enable someone to really open up. “Through honesty is where you get the healing,” he says. 

By eventually balancing his commitments to others with the awareness that he had to make himself a priority, Bialek achieved that overall goal. In fact, he overachieved it. He completed his Bachelor of Science in Business with a Leadership and Management Certificate in just one year and eight months.

What doors will he walk through next? For starters, he hopes to attend commencement in Phoenix. He also hopes to publish a follow-up to his first children’s book, L’il Scoot’s Christmas Adventure. Maybe he’ll even pursue a master’s degree? “University of Phoenix has been good to me, so I really want to continue my education there,” he says. He smiles, then continues: “But that’s going to be after I take a break!”

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