Korrie Blanchard has built a career on helping others find their own career paths, and she credits Wake Tech with both inspiring her journey and giving her the opportunity to fulfill it.

Blanchard, the college's dean of Career Services, says having the biggest possible impact on students' lives by pointing out options for their futures is "my dream job."

"I can teach people, but I don't have to be a teacher," she said. "Teaching and training is a core skill for me. I want to help them learn."

Wake Tech did that for Blanchard, who says she wanted to be a teacher from early on but didn't really have any role models growing up in Harnett County. A first-generation college student, she wasn't confident she could reach that goal.

"I didn't know how to go to college," she said. "Wake Tech was the first place I learned what I was capable of, the first time I had people telling me I was good at things."

Recalling many of her instructors by name, she says the diversity of teaching styles excited her. The support she received from what is now the Tutoring and Learning Center also was critical to her success, she says.

"The thoughtfulness and dedication I got from faculty and the support staff hugely changed my world," she said.

After earning her Associate in Arts degree, Blanchard went on to study Spanish and psychology at Appalachian State University. She got a job teaching high school Spanish in Raleigh but quickly became discouraged by the number of students who weren't as passionate about learning as she was.

"Realizing that teaching wasn't going to be my career was devastating," she said. "I loved working with students, but so few of them showed any commitment in the classroom. I would go home and go to bed so I wouldn't sit around being sad."

She regrouped and got a staff position at North Carolina State University, where she also earned a graduate certificate in counseling education.

"I found there's a way to have an impact on students and not be in the classroom," she said.

When Wake Tech advertised a new position of career specialist in 2014, Blanchard was sure she had found her own career.

"I was excited to share all the talents I had developed in new ways," she said.

Lynn Kavcsak, who served as dean of Career Services until her retirement in 2024, says she recognized talent in Blanchard from the start.

"She can relate to anybody – all students, any walk of life," Kavcsak said. "She can talk to a custodian the same as to the president. I admire her ability to fit in."

Kavcsak says she could go on for hours about Blanchard's strengths, from public speaking to putting together presentations, from problem-solving skills to her impeccable memory. But most of all, she says, she loves Blanchard's personality.

"She's fun to be around and work with," Kavcsak said. "What we do is very upbeat. Sure, there are always job rejections, but it's good to imagine what your career could be. She thrives in that environment."

Blanchard, who also earned a master's degree in counseling from N.C. State, created workshops to help current and former students match their skills with potential careers and also launched a series of "pathways" sessions to better meet the needs of Workforce Development students.

She says she likes to keep her hand in job fairs and other events Career Services sponsors because she enjoys seeing how they can change the course of students' lives.

"If students can see it, they can believe it," she said. "I can't imagine anything more rewarding. I love seeing Wake Tech have the same impact on others that it had on me."