Working towards a PhD is a huge challenge on its own. But pursuing a PhD while recovering from surgery to remove a brain tumor? Almost impossible to imagine. This was Capella University student Kentaya Beeler\u2019s reality\u2014and she did not let surgery or a lengthy recovery stop her.<\/p>\n
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Beeler started in the accounting field after graduating with her bachelor\u2019s degree in 1999. She began working as a cash accountant, transferred into auditing banks and credit unions, and then moved from New York to Orlando for a job as internal auditor for a national construction company. The position required her to travel extensively auditing job sites across the country.<\/p>\n
The travel eventually took a toll, and Beeler decided to take a position in tax accounting at a CPA firm. She earned her master\u2019s degree in taxation and began teaching as part-time adjunct faculty in Orlando, Florida in 2007. The role of instructor suited her more than she\u2019d expected. \u201cI have a passion for accounting, and teaching gives me the chance to still use my skills but also share my knowledge with others,\u201d she says. When she became interested in seeking full-time academic teaching roles, she realized she would need a PhD to make that progression.<\/p>\n
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While moving through several phases of her career and education, Beeler began to be plagued by debilitating headaches, starting in 2002. For six years, she returned to doctors again and again to find a cause, undergoing CAT scans that found nothing and cortisone shots in the base of her skull that didn\u2019t help alleviate the pain. \u201cThe doctors just kept trying different medications, and nothing worked,\u201d she says. \u201cThey didn\u2019t really think anything was wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n
Beeler eventually learned that an MRI would be a better diagnostic test than a CAT scan and asked her doctor to perform one in 2009. \u201cThe doctor said, \u2018If it makes you feel better,\u2019\u201d Beeler recalls. \u201cHe didn\u2019t think they\u2019d find anything.\u201d<\/p>\n
In fact, the MRI did reveal something significant\u2014a large tumor in her brain that needed immediate medical attention. Fortunately, it proved to be benign, but the aftermath of the surgery left her lightheaded and struggling with balance problems for 18 months, a situation that again stumped her physicians.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Beeler was essentially housebound during her long recovery. She returned to the idea of a PhD so that, if her health permitted, she could pursue full-time teaching. It proved to be a wise choice on many fronts. \u201c[Working on my PhD] made me have a positive mindset,\u201d she says. \u201cI wasn\u2019t just sitting at home, trying to figure out why I wasn\u2019t getting better faster.\u201d She chose Capella\u2019s online PhD in Accounting<\/a> program in large part because it gave her much-needed flexibility. \u201cThe program allowed me to stay in my house,\u201d she explains. \u201cIf I had a bad day, I could always make up for it. That\u2019s not so easy to do in traditional programs.\u201d<\/p>\n The physical weakness began to subside as Beeler worked on her PhD. She\u2019s now in the final stages of dissertation approval and has begun looking for work. She feels cautiously optimistic. \u201cThere\u2019s such a demand for accountants today, and they need people to teach them,\u201d she says. \u201cI\u2019ve had employers tell me, \u2018Let me know as soon as you have that PhD.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Her advice to anyone going through the PhD process? \u201cI\u2019d encourage others not to give up. Keep going. You can do it. Capella gives you flexibility to work your real life around your education. It\u2019s not easy, but you can do it.\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Learn more about Capella\u2019s <\/em>online doctoral business programs<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n Kentaya Beeler doesn\u2019t let anything get in the way of her goals, even if it\u2019s a brain tumor.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":81,"featured_media":5087,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[12,151],"tags":[137,7],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stgwww.capella.edu\/blogs\/cublog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5074"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stgwww.capella.edu\/blogs\/cublog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stgwww.capella.edu\/blogs\/cublog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stgwww.capella.edu\/blogs\/cublog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/81"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stgwww.capella.edu\/blogs\/cublog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5074"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/stgwww.capella.edu\/blogs\/cublog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5074\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5105,"href":"https:\/\/stgwww.capella.edu\/blogs\/cublog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5074\/revisions\/5105"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stgwww.capella.edu\/blogs\/cublog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5087"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stgwww.capella.edu\/blogs\/cublog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5074"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stgwww.capella.edu\/blogs\/cublog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5074"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stgwww.capella.edu\/blogs\/cublog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5074"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Never Wasting a Moment<\/h4>\n
See graduation rates, median student debt, and other information at <\/em>Capella Results<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/h6>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"