As an undergraduate student at Winthrop, Knowles was a business administration major with an emphasis in accounting. After graduating with her bachelor’s degree in 2001, she moved on to obtain her MBA with an emphasis on accounting in December 2002.
“I look back on my college and graduate school years at Winthrop with much fondness,” said Kristin Knowles.
During her time at Winthrop, she was involved in several clubs and organizations, including Alpha Omega and RUF.
“I even wrote a weekly column for The Johnsonian one year,” Knowles said.
Looking back on her time as a student at Winthrop, Knowles remembers how different the presence of technology was compared to now.
“Computers were becoming more and more in use and Microsoft was becoming a leading business software of choice,” she said. “Also, not many people had a cell phone that they always had on them. I only had a phone in my car for emergencies.”
One memory that Knowles shared concerns waking up to a huge snowstorm on campus.
“My roommate and I were asleep when the phone rang — yes, a landline. My roommate picked up the phone and then opened the window shade screaming in delight that it had snowed. And it had snowed a lot,” Knowles said.
One of Knowles’ favorite times of the year at Winthrop was the annual Christmas tree lighting.
“It was always on the last day of fall semester classes right before study day,” Knowles said. “There would be luminaries set up all over campus, and then after the tree was lit, there would be a Christmas program in Byrnes Auditorium where groups in the community and at Winthrop were invited to perform.”
During her time on campus, Knowles said she wishes she had made time to go on one of the ghost tours in Tillman. Additionally, she wishes she could have taken a photography course, but it seemed that she could never make it fit in her schedule.
A piece of advice that Knowles gives current and future Winthrop students is to fit an elective in their semester schedules that they will enjoy.
“I did the ropes course as a class. These electives were not a part of my major, but it serves a bit as a recreation and exercise for me,” Knowles said.
Knowles currently works at the American Leprosy Missions located in Greenville, South Carolina. There, she works as the donor data manager and has been assisting with a database transition project which includes updating some of their donor systems and processes.
As part of professional development, Knowles is currently enrolled in a few courses with MIT.
“Taking a course here or there to sharpen skills is something that I encourage and seek to practice,” she said.
As an alumna, Knowles has not been back on campus much, but on one visit with her family, she was excited to see the West Center.
“When I was a student, we had Peabody. But the floors creaked in places, and we all knew there were plans for a new gym, but construction started after I finished school. I was impressed with the West Center when I saw it.”
“Enjoy your time at Winthrop. You are experiencing a privilege to obtain additional education that is not so easy for others to obtain in our country and around the world. Looking back, I think of how young I was and how I thought I knew so much about the world. Now I’ve had just over 20 years of life since finishing my undergraduate degree, and it blows my mind how much I did not know back then,” Knowles said.
