Graduating from Notre Dame Academy in 2009, Haley Kerkhoff is now a successful part of the workforce.

In high school, Kerkhoff participated as a three-sport athlete her freshman and sophomore year, joining cross country, basketball and track.

However, once junior year came around, she decided to pay more attention to school as “IB became [her] focus.” She decided that “IB is a cost-effective way to get college credits if [one] does well.”

Looking back at her high school time, she said she would force herself to “be a lot less serious” and “not be so hard on [herself].”

After graduation, Kerkhoff chose UW-Madison over St. Norbert College for the “change and larger school environment” so different from Notre Dame Academy.

At Madison, Kerkhoff studied general history and poli sci, and at the end of her four years there she got lucky and “found a student position that led into the department [she’s] in now.”

Kerkhoff was “encouraged to apply for a full-time job” in that same department, the Division of Continuing Studies.

The university made her career remote when she moved to Delaware; now she conducts all of her work through a computer working from home.

Her biggest struggle is “to find a balance of work” and staying focused so she does not ruin her free time because either way, she said, the work still has to be done.

In the future, Kerkhoff believes she will continue to do work in the education field.

However, she doesn’t know if she will still be in the same job, claiming “it’s hard to live on a Wisconsin salary on the East Coast.”