Kate and Tom Jaramillo
Master in Business Administration
Kate and Tom Jaramillo were used to applying the business models they learned throughout their Master in Business Administration program to various business scenarios, but never guessed it could literally help them save lives.
Kate had always had a passion for first aid and CPR education from her work as a paramedic. After responding to a call that involved a mother who died from a sudden cardiac arrest while her seven-year-old child watched helplessly, Kate decided to teach CPR and first aid full time.
Kate was earning her associate’s degree at a local community college where she met her husband Tom. Realizing that they had similar goals, they both enrolled in the bachelor’s program at University of Phoenix. Not wanting to stop there, they later began their master’s programs and were married that same year.
After graduating, Kate and Tom decided to apply a problem-based learning model to help improve a campaign to teach first aid and CPR to schools in Arizona. They later developed a business plan for implementing a CPR training program for sixth- through eighth-graders and even donated mannequins for the program. Kate and Tom's goal is to make sure that every student is CPR certified by the time they reach the eighth grade.
Tom and Kate credit their education and experience to giving them a new world view.
“Coming out through that tunnel, knowing that we had accomplished something that so few people have ever accomplished. All the work, all the tears and sweat and long nights and early mornings; it’s kind of like having a child; it was all worth it at that moment,” shares Kate.
