One woman’s experience with career advising at Continuing Education has led to a sea change. She now maintains a double life as a professional development coordinator and skipper for an international, oceanic rowing team that aims to set world records.
Rowing in the wee hours of morning, raising awareness for human trafficking, coordinating with teammates in London, and working fulltime in Boulder— all in a day’s work for Andrea Quigley. The CU-Boulder Continuing Education alumna is training for the trip of a lifetime: a 3,000-mile transatlantic row.
In an effort to increase worldwide awareness of human trafficking, Quigley will take part in an all-female, international team called Row for Freedom. Following a route similar to Christopher Columbus’ maiden voyage, the team’s journey will depart from La Gomera in the Canary Islands in December to end up in Barbados approximately 40 days later. Quigley, the Row for Freedom skipper, will be the only American citizen aboard the multinational team as it attempts to set two world records; the first all-female crew of six to row unaided across the Atlantic and the fastest time for an all-female crew.
In preparation for the journey, Quigley has been training at home and abroad. She has rowed the Thames River in London, collaborated with international human trafficking abolitionists, and shook hands with Britain’s prime minister. All with the support of her “day job” at a consulting company in Boulder. However, her life was not always this busy or exciting.
Change of Course
In fall 2010, Quigley enrolled in Continuing Education’s Career Exploration Workshop and took advantage of the career services offered by Dahlia Smith, Continuing Education’s career advisor.
“This all began because I wasn’t happy in my current job, and I wanted to make a change,” Quigley said. “Dahlia’s guidance was exactly what I needed, and Career Exploration verified what I suspected— I needed to do something different with my life.”
The workshop integrates multiple career assessments and evaluations. Participants gain access to career advising sessions with Smith, and Quigley’s experience launched a sea change for her career and life.
“It was one of the best courses I have taken in my entire life. I don’t know if I would be in this place in my life without it,” she said.
Following Smith’s advice, Quigley established her non-negotiable career requirements—flexibility, purpose, and adventure. She applied for and was offered a different position at work as a professional development coordinator. Things were looking up career wise, when she stumbled upon news of Row for Freedom and its goals. She contacted the team’s leader, and within one day, she was on board. Her company agreed to grant her a leave of absence to pursue her rowing dreams. In a short period of time, she had rearranged her work life and was preparing for a true adventure.
“It all converged at once,” Quigley said proudly. “For me, I took career exploration and moved it further into life exploration. It helped me in aligning my work life and my life outside of work.”
Her new position and involvement in Row for Freedom are uncharted waters that satisfy her thirst for adventure and purpose.
Finding Her Calling
Quigley’s journey will not be her first at sea. A self-described outdoorsy person, she is an avid rower and has spent the better part of seven years at sea as part of the crew on oceanographic ships and as manager of a worldwide ocean-temperature program. This trip will mark her first philanthropic rowing challenge as it aims to raise worldwide awareness for human trafficking.
“I see my participation in this row as taking an action that hopefully is extreme enough to get people to take notice and then to take action against this horrendous crime against humanity that is going on in every country in the world,” she said.
Follow Quigley and her teammates on the Row for Freedom Blog as they embark on their journey in December.
Photo by Guy Bell
