The pandemic has prompted many people to leave the job market. Most have not turned that downtime into an opportunity to upgrade their skills, but many of those who have are finding good results.

When the pandemic hit in early 2020, Angie Champion Holland’s career in hotel construction sales fizzled. With travel severely restricted, building projects got canceled. By May, she was out of a job.

She could have stayed home. A 40-something mother of four, with three other stepchildren and two grandchildren, she had plenty to do. Instead, Ms. Holland went back to school. 

Although based in the Atlanta area, she started with two online courses from Southern New Hampshire University – the normal course load. In her next semester, she moved to three classes per semester, and a month ago she graduated summa cum laude with degrees in psychology and sociology.

“I wasn’t happy in construction,” Ms. Holland says. “The type of company that I can work for has definitely changed. I can work in these fields where I have a personal interest” – social justice; diversity, equity, and inclusion; and addiction recovery.