University of Pittsburgh

About

Sandra Besterman

Sandra Besterman

The Four Agreements as defined by Miguel Ruiz:

  • "Be impeccable with your word."
  • "Don’t take anything personally."
  • "Don’t make assumptions."
  • "Always do your best."

These are the words I try to live by both in both my professional and personal life. These are simple things to say, but not so easy to follow. Miguel Ruiz has written many books on the subject, and I have found his words to be life altering.

Something about me:

Move and change seems to describe me best, having moved 40 times in my life. By the time I was a freshman in high school I was in my 14th school. I grew up all over the East Coast and into Ohio. For college I ended up attending Pitt and was a charter member of the “I don’t know what I want to be when I grow up” club. I received a BA in Sociology and Psychology, which I suppose has become a life long fascination. At graduation I found that my job prospects were not so great, but I did learn to love learning, probably one of the greatest things you can gain from an education.

After college, I began my professional life in higher education at Pitt. My first stop was at the Office of Admissions and Financial Aid as an assistant director. For the next 20 years, I made many moves in order to climb the ladder, including working in Student Registration and Financial Services, the College of General Studies, and the Katz Graduate School of Business. I also obtained my Masters Degree in Counseling while working full-time. I then worked part-time providing crisis counseling services for abused women in shelters and rape crisis centers.

I have to say that one of my favorite jobs at Pitt was that of director of Pitt’s Informal Program, which provided adult non-credit learning and study trips to the community. I had the opportunity to escort groups to many wonderful international places like Asia, Africa, most of Europe, Egypt, and India. In addition, I saw much of the US and realized what an amazing country it is. I continued to travel when I took my next position as director of the Executive MBA Program at the Katz School of Business.

My last job at Pitt was Administrative Director of Placement at Katz. I learned so much about the inner workings of the corporate world while developing hiring relationships with corporate recruiters. In addition, I counseled students on the fine art of the job search.

After so many years at Pitt, I realized that although I may have reached some measure of success, I really needed to do something different. I left the University and went to work in the corporate world for five years. I also worked in the beauty/health industry.

Those years gave me time to really think about how I wanted to spend the next portion of my life in the work world, and I realized I wanted to return to my roots as a counselor. I was very fortunate to obtain my current position as an Academic Advisor at CBA. I find the work rewarding and interesting and am very lucky to work at a school with so many caring and outstanding professionals and great students!

I hope this has helped you to learn a little about me. I look forward to meeting and learning about you.