Foundation for the Future: Nicole Poteat Walters ’07
Nicole Poteat Walters ’07 graduated with high hopes for her future, but the life she has built for herself since then is fuller and more rewarding than any she could have imagined on graduation day. Her education at Converse has proved to be a strong foundation to build a future on. In the past five years, Walters has managed to earn a Masters in Economics from USC-Columbia, marry the love of her life, have two children, and start a computer repair business, Complete PC LLC, with her husband. To say that Walters took off running after she threw her graduation cap in the air would be an understatement.
Today, besides working as a mother of two, Walters also runs the business and financial aspects of the computer repair business she owns with her husband. She cites her Converse experience as a large component of her preparation for such a demanding job, “I think in a lot of ways I’m currently using the accounting classes and my experience from senior seminar with creating a business plan more than anything,” said Walters.
The professors at Converse care about your success. They care that you learn. They know who you are and are always willing to help.
Another Converse experience that helped prepare Walters for graduate school, as well as for her career as a small business owner was her study and work with Dr. Woodrow Hughes. “Dr. Hughes’ General Education Economics class changed my major entirely. He helped me when I had problems, encouraged me to apply to graduate schools, taught me about research, and was just generally a great professor. He even helped me out the summer after graduation with some books and a discussion about linear algebra before I started graduate school. I used those books to teach myself the concepts I didn’t understand the first year of graduate school — probably a major reason I made it through that first year. Many times I missed Dr. Hughes’s help in graduate school,” Walters said.
Guidance from professors like Dr. Hughes was what made Converse a life changing experience for Walters, “The professors at Converse care about your success. They care that you learn. They know who you are and are always willing to help. Even as a graduate student in a class of four or so students I never had the same relationship with professors that you do at Converse. So I honestly think that is the biggest thing that sets Converse apart and helps the entire experience change your life.”