Tashina Geisler is an alumna who worked toward an associate degree in Liberal Arts and two certificates during her time at Sinclair Community College.
“My major changed quite a bit,” she said. “The one I finally graduated with was a Fire Science certificate, Emergency Medical Technician certification and an associate of Liberal Arts.”
All together, Geisler attended Sinclair for seven years.
“I’ve always had a thirst for learning more and experiencing more,” she said. “I get bored so easy, I start doing something and as soon as it becomes a status quo I’m like, ‘well I’ve done that, I’ve got to try something new.’”
While at Sinclair, Geisler worked toward a Communication degree and was involved with the Clarion student newspaper.
“Journalism was very, very helpful for me because I was extremely shy and it brought me out of my shell quite a bit,” she said. “Through journalism, I learned to open up and talk to people and stop hiding so much.”
For the past year, Geisler has been training in the Navy.
“I finished my first school, which got me licensed as an aviation electronics technician,” she said. “And while I was doing that, I also did performing units and sang at different events.”
Geisler was also part of combat system engineering development and was an officer on Coalition of Service Members Against Destructive Decisions.
“I was an officer on that, so I did a lot of community service projects and volunteer projects with that,” she said. “I’ve done a lot of different things.”
Geisler said she loves exploring the world and experiencing different places.
“You meet so many fascinating people wherever you go,” she said. “I have gone to every state but Alaska and Hawaii, and I am going to Hawaii soon; that’s my next duty station.”
Geisler also said she has backpacked through Mexico and Guatemala.
She said she lived in Honduras for about eight months and has also lived in the United Kingdom.
“I’ve done so much, a lot of different jobs, a lot of traveling.”
Although Geisler said she has traveled many places, she said Sinclair has helped with her success.
“I would come do a couple classes, leave and travel, come back,” she said. “I learned a lot of good skills as far as managing my time and staying busy while maintaining good grades while in school, which helped in my Navy school.”
Although Geisler said she has had many successes in her life, she has been afraid of failure. According to her, she used the fear as a push to pursue her goals.
“I’ve always been afraid of failure, I’m still afraid of failure,” she said. “I just push myself that much harder, I’m kind of a perfectionist in many ways. If I’m doing the same as everybody else, then I’m not doing something right.”
Geisler strived to do more while at her Navy school in Florida. In doing so, she received an advanced promotion.
“They told me I was more involved than anyone that’s gone through there,” she said.
Her advice to students is to keep trying, even if you feel you cannot.
“Just explore, you can always take more classes and always change. I took a really round-about road, I changed so many times, but I still managed in the end to get a degree,” she said. “Life has a way of happening and finding the right path, and the only way you’re going to find the right path is by trial and error.”