{"id":6745,"date":"2025-01-10T13:40:28","date_gmt":"2025-01-10T18:40:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/torch.cci.fsu.edu\/~lis5313\/?p=6745"},"modified":"2025-01-10T13:52:53","modified_gmt":"2025-01-10T18:52:53","slug":"exploring-new-horizons-my-journey-in-it-sales-and-beyond","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/torch.cci.fsu.edu\/~lis5313\/index.php\/2025\/01\/10\/exploring-new-horizons-my-journey-in-it-sales-and-beyond\/","title":{"rendered":"Exploring New Horizons: My Journey in IT, Sales, and Beyond"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-nowrap is-layout-flex wp-container-core-group-is-layout-8f761849 wp-block-group-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-8f761849 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:50%\"><div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1182\" height=\"1183\" src=\"https:\/\/torch.cci.fsu.edu\/~lis5313\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/WhatsApp-Image-2025-01-10-at-12.23.28-PM-2-edited.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-6757\" style=\"width:322px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/torch.cci.fsu.edu\/~lis5313\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/WhatsApp-Image-2025-01-10-at-12.23.28-PM-2-edited.jpeg 1182w, https:\/\/torch.cci.fsu.edu\/~lis5313\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/WhatsApp-Image-2025-01-10-at-12.23.28-PM-2-edited-300x300.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/torch.cci.fsu.edu\/~lis5313\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/WhatsApp-Image-2025-01-10-at-12.23.28-PM-2-edited-1024x1024.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/torch.cci.fsu.edu\/~lis5313\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/WhatsApp-Image-2025-01-10-at-12.23.28-PM-2-edited-150x150.jpeg 150w, https:\/\/torch.cci.fsu.edu\/~lis5313\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/WhatsApp-Image-2025-01-10-at-12.23.28-PM-2-edited-768x769.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/torch.cci.fsu.edu\/~lis5313\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/WhatsApp-Image-2025-01-10-at-12.23.28-PM-2-edited-200x200.jpeg 200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1182px) 100vw, 1182px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:50%\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Hi everyone! My name is&nbsp;Akerke Kuanysh, and I\u2019m so excited to be part of this class. I\u2019m an international graduate student from&nbsp;Kazakhstan, currently studying Information Technology at Florida State University. This is my first year at FSU and also my first year living in the USA. It\u2019s been such an exciting and challenging journey!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group\"><div class=\"wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-nowrap is-layout-flex wp-container-core-group-is-layout-8f761849 wp-block-group-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-8f761849 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:50%\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Before coming to the USA, I earned my bachelor\u2019s degree in&nbsp;<strong>I<\/strong>nformation Systems&nbsp;and worked in IT. My work was mostly focused on technical tasks like programming and managing systems. I thought I would stay in IT forever, but life had other plans after I had my daughter. In Kazakhstan, maternity leave lasts up to three years (yes, three years!). I was planning to take a long break, but when my daughter was seven months old, something unexpected happened.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:50%\"><div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"883\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/torch.cci.fsu.edu\/~lis5313\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/WhatsApp-Image-2025-01-10-at-1.15.22-PM-883x1024.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-6747\" style=\"width:308px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/torch.cci.fsu.edu\/~lis5313\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/WhatsApp-Image-2025-01-10-at-1.15.22-PM-883x1024.jpeg 883w, https:\/\/torch.cci.fsu.edu\/~lis5313\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/WhatsApp-Image-2025-01-10-at-1.15.22-PM-259x300.jpeg 259w, https:\/\/torch.cci.fsu.edu\/~lis5313\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/WhatsApp-Image-2025-01-10-at-1.15.22-PM-768x891.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/torch.cci.fsu.edu\/~lis5313\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/WhatsApp-Image-2025-01-10-at-1.15.22-PM.jpeg 1206w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 883px) 100vw, 883px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The company I used to work for\u2014an&nbsp;educational organization that prepared students for international exams\u2014was facing an emergency. All their salespeople were unavailable just before the start of a big flow of new groups. One salesperson went on maternity leave, another had a family emergency, and others faced serious health issues. Suddenly, they needed help, and even though I did not have experience in sales, I decided to give it a try. At least, I thought it was not so serious. I would be here for just a few days until they found a professional sales team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The first day, I was nervous and only made three calls\u2014but two people signed up! By the second day, six more students joined. I realized how much I loved talking to people, helping them find what they needed, and making a difference. Over time, I became a Sales Manager, and eventually, I was promoted to Sales Director. Within nine months, I helped the company increase sales by 155%. I also used my IT background to make processes more efficient, which taught me how much I enjoy combining IT and business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That&#8217;s why, I decided to return to IT with another purpose since I wanted to bring together my technical skills and my passion for business. FSU\u2019s IT program is perfect for me because it focuses on how technology can be applied to improve real-world challenges, like efficiency and customer satisfaction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">One class I\u2019m particularly excited about is&nbsp;Digital Media: Concepts and Production. I hope to learn how to create engaging and effective digital content, which will help me in my current project: sharing information about studying in the USA with people back home in Kazakhstan. You can take a look at my content on&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/ielts.academy.kz?igsh=MTkwN20zazl1dmY0\">Instagram<\/a>. My goal for this course is learning how to create engaging and professional digital media content. A few days ago, I uploaded my first long <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/reel\/DELEsxIRDzE\/?igsh=Y2w1cm1zY2FwbDM3\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/reel\/DELEsxIRDzE\/?igsh=Y2w1cm1zY2FwbDM3\">video<\/a> about my apartment in Tallahassee. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I\u2019m really looking forward to learning from everyone in this class and sharing ideas. Let\u2019s make this semester a great one!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Hi everyone! My name is&nbsp;Akerke Kuanysh, and I\u2019m so excited to be part of this class. I\u2019m an international graduate student from&nbsp;Kazakhstan, currently studying Information Technology at Florida State University. This is my first year at FSU and also my&#46;&#46;&#46;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[6],"class_list":["post-6745","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-student","tag-intros"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/torch.cci.fsu.edu\/~lis5313\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6745","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/torch.cci.fsu.edu\/~lis5313\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/torch.cci.fsu.edu\/~lis5313\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/torch.cci.fsu.edu\/~lis5313\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/torch.cci.fsu.edu\/~lis5313\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6745"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/torch.cci.fsu.edu\/~lis5313\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6745\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6759,"href":"https:\/\/torch.cci.fsu.edu\/~lis5313\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6745\/revisions\/6759"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/torch.cci.fsu.edu\/~lis5313\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6745"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/torch.cci.fsu.edu\/~lis5313\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6745"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/torch.cci.fsu.edu\/~lis5313\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6745"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}