Color-coded calendars and wide-open doors

Some journeys are planned out to the minute. Others unfold one opportunity at a time. For DiAnna Marler, both approaches worked—thanks to flexibility, focus, and a color-coded planner.

“I keep a planner,” she said. “I color-coded my planner so I was one color, my daughter was another color, my husband is another color. That’s how I keep it straight.”

Marler, who lives in California, earned both her Bachelor of Science in Business Administration and Master of Business Administration online from Central Michigan University. She started her BSBA in applied business communication while wrapping up veterinary certification courses and caring for her young daughter during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I was doing it while she was home during COVID kindergarten,” she said. “Our internet was being pulled in all sorts of directions between me and her and my husband—but we made it work.”

As a military spouse, online education made sense. The asynchronous format gave her the structure to plan ahead while still allowing for flexibility across time zones and daily routines. “I had to really watch my deadlines to make sure that I got everything submitted by 8:59 on Sundays instead of 11:59,” she said. “But I tried to stay on top of my due dates and get everything in by Friday if possible.”

Marler also leveraged CMU’s accelerated pathway between her undergraduate and graduate degrees. “I talked with Pam and I talked with Karen and they said, ‘Well, we have this accelerated program,’” she said, referring to her MBA advisor Pam Stambersky and undergraduate advisor Karen Arthur.

“DiAnna was a pleasure to have in the online MBA program—she brought an energetic, positive attitude and consistently demonstrated strong communication and organizational skills in all our advising sessions,” said MBA Coordinator & MBA Advisor Pam Stambersky. “She was detail-oriented and thoughtfully balanced her coursework each semester, both for her bachelor’s degree and the accelerated MBA program.”            

“I really enjoyed the opportunity to get to know DiAnna early on in the academic advising process and provide support in exploring our online business degree options,” said Business Student Services director Karen Arthur. “Through regular check-ins, we worked together to develop an academic plan that helped her reach her goals by double-counting courses in our accelerated MBA program. She was a highly motivated student!”

Her MBA emphasis in data analytics introduced her to programs like Tableau and R, which she applied in team-based, project-driven classes. “Every single class had a group project,” she said. “We utilized Microsoft Teams all the time. It was a challenge sometimes because of the time difference, but it worked out well.”

Earlier this month, Marler traveled from California to attend CMU’s commencement in person—where she even met one of her groupmates for the first time. “I worked with her in a couple of group projects throughout the program. And then I met her in person on graduation day—so that was really neat.” 

Throughout her academic experience, she continued exploring new skills, including the Global Tech Experience—an online collaborative course that brought together students from universities across the U.S. to complete tech and communication projects. “We learned Tableau and Excel. We had group projects with classmates from different universities. It was just an interesting course.” 

Now, with her degrees in hand, Marler is exploring what’s next. “I’m looking at all the industries. I’ve been applying for all sorts of things. The nice thing with my background is I could really do anything within the veterinary industry or healthcare,” she said. She plans to sharpen her tech skills further, including learning SQL and Power BI to complement her training in Tableau. 

Looking back, Marler feels confident in the path she took. “I don’t think I would change anything that I did,” she said. “I don’t think that I would be where I am today if I didn’t go through all of the steps that I had taken to get here.”

Those steps include 14 years in the veterinary field, multiple cross-country moves as a military spouse, and a return to finish her bachelor’s and then master’s degrees.

Asked what advice she’d give to others, she paused thoughtfully before adding, “Just—try everything. Get your feet wet. Don’t be afraid to jump in.”