In this digital age, the internet has revolutionized the way we acquire knowledge and develop new skills. To help our team stay ahead of the curve, SoFi is proud to offer our employees access to Udemy, an online learning and teaching marketplace. Udemy has emerged as a leading force in online education. With its vast array of courses spanning various disciplines, it offers an unparalleled opportunity for our employees to enhance their expertise, explore new subjects, and unleash their full potential.
David Turk, Risk Manager at SoFi, is one of the company’s top users of this tool! He has invested nearly 60 hours into learning pathways using Udemy. The tool helps him break up the lectures throughout the week, and learn at his own leisure. Since he regularly partners with engineers and data scientists who often use a unique corporate language, it has been extremely valuable to invest time in courses where he was able to learn cross functional languages.
As someone with a growth mindset, he felt empowered to take advantage of Udemy after our Chief Risk Officer, Aaron Webster sent out a communication encouraging the team to leverage the tool. We recently caught up with David to learn about how he leverages Udemy, his advice to anybody thinking about enrolling in a course, and his take on our Core Value of the Month, “Embrace Diversity”, which happens to be his favorite!
What is your favorite learning pathway you’ve experienced thus far?
The first learning path I took was a series of lectures on effective communication and there was a section around emotional intelligence, or EQ. Honestly, I went into the topic very skeptical, but came out as a believer! The course helped me to develop a strong sense of self along with a toolset that empowered me to perceive, evaluate, express and control my own emotions. Not only has it enriched my work life but it has also helped me grow personally by instilling a level of empathy towards others that I wasn’t previously conscious of.
Do you have advice that you would offer to someone who is considering enrolling in a Udemy course?
I think the best advice I can offer would be wisdom that my dad gave me. He was a West Point graduate and served 26 years in the United States Air Force as a fighter pilot and even worked in the Pentagon. From him, I learned values such as hard work, dedication, teamwork, leadership and the pursuit of knowledge. He often told me that life was simply about two choices, “the harder right or the easier wrong.” I viewed beginning Udemy courses as the harder right, and I took the first step. My advice to someone considering taking a Udemy course: “You’ve already chosen the harder right, just take that first step! Enroll. Learn. Repeat.”
Our Core Value of the Month in June is “Embrace Diversity” Talk to us about what this value means to you personally.
Honestly this is my absolute favorite core value so I’m extremely grateful to be featured this month. To me, embracing diversity is about celebrating all the ways that we are unique. Growing up in the military, I spent my childhood immersing myself in unique places like Germany, England and the Philippines. Now, my career in Risk Management has afforded my family the same opportunities to live in unique cultures such as Australia. Whenever we were stationed in a new country we celebrated the diverse community around us, while sharing in their traditions and offering insight into our own. I am grateful to have similar experiences at SoFi where our employees and members are all made up of different cultures, ethnicities, identities, languages and backgrounds. Each with unique experiences and insights. We constantly evaluate our members' feedback to improve our platform. Internally, every employee has a voice with safe forums to be heard and allies everywhere. I love that I’m a part of an organization that not only recognizes diversity by incorporating it into our core value system but also encourages living it out in every day practice.
One last question, just for fun. What are you streaming right now?
Right now I’m fully into The Urban Gardener podcast. My family is committed to sustainable organic farming as a lifestyle and who doesn’t enjoy playing with dirt? Not only does it emphasize ways to improve urban environmental conditions but I’m able to translate what I’m learning to teach my kids about food origins to help them connect with their natural world.
David, thank you for taking the time to talk with us about your learning journey. We are so proud of your growth mindset, and dedication to continuing education at SoFi!
The individual featured is a SoFi employee. Their personal experiences, obviously, do not take into account your own specific objectives, financial situation, and needs. Results will vary.
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