CHICKASHA – Desaray Hayes suspected it for some time. Turns out, she has a knack. The seldom-used word accurately describes her business sense. She is a natural.
Hayes, 20, of Norman, works as an assistant manager for Dollar General stores in Norman. Meanwhile, she has surpassed the halfway point toward earning an associate degree at Oklahoma City Community College.
Plenty of goals remain. She wants to pursue a bachelor’s degree in business. Eventually, Hayes wants to own a retail store selling kitchen-related items. She even has a name picked out – The Pantry.
Hayes is a recent graduate of Canadian Valley Technology Center’s Business Office Technology (BOT) program, which she said served to fan the flame for her long-range goals.
“People often ask me what kind of experience I had at Canadian Valley,” she said. “I would rate it a 10 out of 10. I love Canadian Valley. I tell everybody always to go and check it out.”
Hayes completed the Business Office program in nine months utilizing CV Tech’s Next Step Scholarship, which covers tuition costs for students who are under age 24, live in-district and have either a high school diploma or equivalent.
She actually enrolled at CV Tech in high school at a time when she was thinking about working in a childcare center. She was elected as a state officer. But her plans changed.
“I benefitted greatly through the two programs I took at Canadian Valley,” she said. “But I realized I wanted to own a small business and was teetering at that time between owning a bakery or working with kids.”
After graduating high school in 2017, she decided to return to CV Tech to learn more about business. She participated in Mentor Match, which pairs CV Tech students with area businesses for unpaid internships. Hayes’ internship was at an area bakery. Something clicked.
CV Tech instructor Alissa Jackson said the Business Office program is an option for a variety of students. Students use Microsoft Word to create flyers, research papers and online templates for websites. They also set up pseudo companies using Intuit’s Quick Books software to learn about profit and loss.
Area business owners routinely lead topical class discussions, and students are encouraged to participate in monthly community service activities.
“We have an entrepreneurial spin on the class,” Jackson said. “Maybe you want to own your own business. We do a lot of group projects built on that.”
For more information about Business Office Technology, visit cvtech.edu, or call (405) 224-7220.
