A life-changing decision, a brighter future

It is often said that education has the power to change lives. A decision made by Krista Derksen 16 years ago proves the accuracy of that maxim.

“I had my daughter when I was 18, and I dropped out of school,” she said. “And then, I went back to the Assiniboine adult collegiate and got my grade 12 from there. I went back when I was 27. I graduated from there in 2010. I went back really later in life and got all of that when I had three kids at home.”

“Was it hard to go back to school at 27, with young kids? Very hard. We were living in Niverville at the time, my husband and my three kids and me. I came back to Brandon to go to school for a couple of months, then we all moved to Brandon afterwards and I started at the college in the business program.”

Krista went straight from Assiniboine’s adult learning program into the Business Administration program, and 14 years later, she is the Director of HR for Ascend LLP, one of Canada’s fastest-growing accounting firms.

“I had gone to Assiniboine because at the adult collegiate I got a full scholarship to go onto college after. My intention was to actually go through for counselling. That just seemed like the best fit, the HR piece,” she said. “When I was done my two years, I actually loved what I had learned so much that I could apply that and still do some of the things I wanted to do.”

After graduating, she worked as an HR scheduling coordinator with Home Depot. That then led to HR-related positions with Cando Rail and Westman Communications Group, followed by five years with the Brandon office of MNP.

“I never would have left MNP,” she said. “I had planned on retiring there— I loved the organization, but this other firm just caught me at a moment where I was contemplating what was going to be next for me. And the excitement and the challenge that comes with this director role is really the only reason that I left. Ascend is going to be a great firm for me as well.”

She explains that “We operate in BC, Alberta, Ontario and in a few of the Atlantic provinces. The plan is to open up practises in Manitoba and Saskatchewan eventually. We do have services in India as well. . . We want to be “50 by 30” at Ascend – a “top 50 firm” by 2030 – and so there’s a lot of things that have to go into that. Trying to make someone into an employer of choice is one of the key pieces.”

Recalling her time as a student at Assiniboine, Krista says it “was such a great place, and I loved that there were smaller class sizes and building those relationships with instructors. If you had asked me when I started college if I thought that I would have a long-term career from what I got, I didn’t think I would be here. I was able to make a great career out of having that two-year diploma program.”

She adds that “It’s scary to go back to high school when you’re older and you’ve got kids at home, but I really hope that piece can resonate with someone who is considering whether they want to, because I was probably on a pretty dead-end path at one point in my life.”

“And now I look at it and it’s a pretty big thing to be a director of an organization, especially as they’re building.”