Carena Fay went from doubting if college was right for her to graduating with her MBA in May – her third degree in as many years.
Carena Fay doesn’t hesitate to describe herself as an extrovert.
“I’m a personable person,” Fay chuckled. “I love being around people and helping them.”
When she came to Texas Tech University in 2019, she knew her eventual degree needed to lead to a career where she could help people.
She landed on personal financial planning (PFP) after seeing a billboard in the College of Health & Human Sciences building advertising the charitable planning concentration of the PFP program. It was a brief moment, but one that impacted Fay deeply.
“I had never heard about charitable planning,” Fay said. “It was nice to see there was more than just investments and accounting. I could work directly with people.”
Fay would go on to earn her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in PFP and complete both the charitable planning and financial health and wellness graduate certificates. She opted to stay in Lubbock a little longer and will graduate with her MBA from the Jerry S. Rawls College of Business this May.
This spring commencement will cap Fay’s six years at Texas Tech. Years that have seen her struggle, deal with loss and eventually find success.
The Isolated Extrovert
Like many other first-generation students, Fay had a difficult time adjusting to college. She had been a solid student in high school, but she had found herself heading toward academic probation after just one semester at Texas Tech.
“It was overwhelming,” Fay recalled about her first-semester struggles. “I’d never experienced anything like that. I also had friends that came to Tech, but they ended up leaving because they realized college wasn’t for them. It was just one of those things where it felt like everything was coming down. And then the pandemic happened.”
Fay hoped the spring 2020 semester would be a chance for her to get her grades back on track. Instead, the typical college experience for all students was upended as classes were moved online. Fay found herself removed from her fellow students and the university as a whole.
It’s understandable that she questioned if this was a sign that maybe Texas Tech, and college in general, just wasn’t for her. Being stuck at home, however, kept Fay near her parents, and they were going to make sure she finished school with a degree. Though her father had some college experience thanks to a Navy scholarship, neither of her parents had college degrees.
Fay spent the early summer looking at other schools, but none offered the same type of PFP program as Texas Tech.
However, a few weeks before returning to Lubbock from her home in Dallas, her older brother, Harrison, suddenly passed away.
Fay described Harrison as the type of person who could light up a room the moment he entered. Growing up, Fay always wanted to be around her brother, but he, being four years older, often wanted his own space.
“He would be like, ‘You’re so annoying. Get away from me,’” Fay said, laughing. “Eventually, once we grew up, we became best friends and loved hanging out together.”
As difficult as it was for Fay to leave her grieving parents and return to Lubbock in the fall, she found a renewed sense of determination to complete her degree program.
“He was a huge factor in why I wanted to go back to Tech,” she said. “I wanted to just do the things that my brother wouldn’t be able to do anymore.”
Turning Things Around
Fay returned to Texas Tech with a sense of calmness. Whatever challenges she would face her sophomore year would pale in comparison to the previous months.
Off the bat, Fay gained a deeper appreciation for her PFP program. While many classes during the fall 2020 semester were either online or hybrid, Fay had a different experience.
“One of the biggest differences with PFP is that we are really small,” Fay proudly said. “I was able to still have all in-person classes when many of my friends didn’t.”
Having that in-person connection to students and instructors gave Fay the steady foundation she needed to recover her GPA. She also joined the Delta Gamma sorority and started making friends beyond her classes.
“It was the best year of my life,” Fay recalled. “You would think it would be the worst because of everything that had just happened.”
Fay walked for her bachelor’s degree at the commencement ceremony in May 2023, but unlike other students receiving their degrees, it didn’t feel like the end to something. In truth, she was continuing her academic career and already working toward her master’s degree. The PFP program enabled her to begin some graduate coursework while still a senior.
Fay earned her master’s in PFP in just a year and opted not to walk for this second degree since she decided to also earn an MBA from Rawls College. The woman who was unsure if college was right for her had decided to earn a third degree in as many years.
As a future financial advisor, Fay knew many of her eventual clients could be business owners. She felt an MBA would be the best way to gain a small glimpse of the various issues business owners deal with to best support her future clients.
Isolated But Not Alone
Fay’s last year at Texas Tech shared an ironic similarity to her first: taking online courses. Fay enrolled in the Online MBA at Rawls College but decided to stay in Lubbock. She had friends there and took an opportunity to work at Red to Black Financial Coaching.
“Red to Black definitely helped me learn how to communicate with clients,” Fay said. “If a student ever needed help creating a budget or a spending plan or finding a credit card, we could help them kind of understand it all.”
While Fay connected with fellow PFP and Texas Tech students through Red to Black, she harnessed some of the lessons from the pandemic to better connect with her MBA instructors and classmates. She learned she needed to be more intentional with her communication efforts and would often email instructors or attend virtual office hours.
She also saw the emphasis on personal accountability an online program demands, preparing her to transition into the professional world.
“You have to sit down, watch the lectures and actually do it all on your own,” Fay said. “You’re dedicating time to do the work; the professor isn’t there to hold you accountable. Your boss is just going to give you a task, and you have to figure it out.”
As she prepares to say goodbye to Texas Tech after six years and three degrees, Fay is eager to begin working in San Antonio at CAPTRUST, a financial consultant company. Ever the personable person, she’s excited to build relationships with clients, address their financial concerns and help them save for their future.
Fay’s voice reverberates with confidence seasoned with experience as she talks about her burgeoning career. She credits Texas Tech and her instructors for setting her up for success.
“Tech has the best professors and provides the best hands-on learning experiences,” Fay said. “The professors – really, everybody here – give you enough and prepare you so well. They want to see you succeed post-graduation. That’s what ‘From Here, It’s Possible™’ is all about.”