Denise Bouch, facilities manager for Allegany College of Maryland's Bedford County Campus, is a perfect example of the benefits of lifelong learning. A 1973 graduate of Northern Bedford County High School, Denise worked in the D.C. area after high school, before moving back to the county as a young mother and wife. She worked part-time while her children were young, and when the ACM-Bedford County Campus opened in 1990 began pursuing a college degree to improve her skills and expand her career opportunities. While attending classes that year she learned the college needed an office assistant. She applied and has worked for the college ever since - as office manager, site coordinator and now facilities manager, her job expanding with the college.

Her education has also expanded - she eventually earned three Associate's Degrees from ACM's Bedford County Campus and a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Human Resources from Geneva College. "I'm considering pursuing a master's degree at some point in the future," she says. Denise says her experience shows that it is possible to raise two children, work full time and continue an education. "If you want it enough it is possible to make a career change," she says. In her time at the college, Denise says she's enjoyed watching the campus grow and seeing more and more students come through the doors and succeed. Enrollment has grown from 40 the first year to more than 350 this year - rising 11 percent this year from 2001. "This institution has changed a lot of lives," she says. "It's no longer necessary to leave Bedford County to earn a college degree, and that's a big plus for the county and for county citizens. I know it's made all the difference in my life."

Back to Opportunities