{"id":50934,"date":"2025-05-15T11:00:09","date_gmt":"2025-05-15T16:00:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/students.austincc.edu\/infohub\/?p=50934"},"modified":"2025-08-07T14:48:59","modified_gmt":"2025-08-07T19:48:59","slug":"a-new-path-a-powerful-voice-csaa-winner-rikki-ehrhart-finds-her-calling-in-tech","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/students.austincc.edu\/infohub\/2025\/05\/15\/a-new-path-a-powerful-voice-csaa-winner-rikki-ehrhart-finds-her-calling-in-tech\/","title":{"rendered":"A New Path, A Powerful Voice: CSAA Winner Rikki Ehrhart Finds Her Calling in Tech"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\n

\u201cA few years ago, I was feeling lost. Now, I\u2019m leading, creating, coding, and walking the stage as the Chancellor Student Achievement Award winner.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2014 Rikki Tomiko Ehrhart, Spring 2025 Chancellor Student Achievement Award Recipient<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>
\n

Rikki Tomiko Ehrhart proves that it\u2019s never too late to change direction\u2014and thrive. This spring, the 38-year-old graduates from Austin Community College District (ACC) with an Associate of Applied Science in Web Programming. She was also named the Chancellor Student Achievement Award.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her journey is anything but traditional. After earning a theater degree nearly two decades ago and spending years in the service industry, Rikki felt stuck. <\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t have a clear career path. A friend suggested I try learning a programming language\u2014and I fell in love with it. I quit my job and enrolled at ACC.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From the start, Rikki embraced every opportunity ACC offered. She dove into leadership with Phi Theta Kappa\u2014the College\u2019s honor society chapter\u2014 helped build its website, co-led the Women in Technology (WIT) group, Helped design an app to teach kids music, and served as the student voice on ACC\u2019s Web Advisory Committee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“I went all in. I gave myself 2 years to see what I was capable of, and it turned out that I’m capable of a lot.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her initiative helped launch the \u201cGrab a Byte\u201d tech engagement series and advanced digital accessibility work across campus. Along the way, she earned multiple micro-credentials and completed an internship with Hurley Pianos.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m so proud of how far I\u2019ve come,\u201d Rikki says. \u201cBeing inducted into Phi Theta Kappa changed everything\u2014it helped me realize I was a leader. From there, I just kept saying yes to growth.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And it paid off. After attending an ACC meet-and-greet with Visa, Rikki landed a Software Engineering Apprenticeship with the company. She\u2019ll keep the momentum going as she pursues her bachelor\u2019s degree in Software Development\u2014right here at ACC.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI used to think I was average. ACC helped me realize I\u2019m capable of more than I ever imagined.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her advice to future students?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Get involved, in whatever way you can, take opportunities whenever they are available and when that little voice inside your head tells you that you aren’t capable of something — do it anyway! You might surprise yourself!”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Help us celebrate her and the Class of 2025 at austincc.edu\/commencement<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cA few years ago, I was feeling lost. Now, I\u2019m leading, creating, coding, and walking the stage as the Chancellor Student Achievement Award winner.\u201d \u2014 Rikki Tomiko Ehrhart, Spring 2025 Chancellor Student Achievement Award Recipient Rikki Tomiko Ehrhart proves that it\u2019s never too late to change direction\u2014and thrive. This spring, the 38-year-old graduates from Austin […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":103,"featured_media":50936,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[512,1121,1122,1200],"class_list":["post-50934","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-student-stories","tag-csaa","tag-spring-2025-commencement","tag-spring-2025-graduation","tag-web-programming","et-has-post-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/students.austincc.edu\/infohub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50934","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/students.austincc.edu\/infohub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/students.austincc.edu\/infohub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/students.austincc.edu\/infohub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/103"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/students.austincc.edu\/infohub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=50934"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/students.austincc.edu\/infohub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50934\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/students.austincc.edu\/infohub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/50936"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/students.austincc.edu\/infohub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=50934"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/students.austincc.edu\/infohub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=50934"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/students.austincc.edu\/infohub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=50934"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}