Alumni success stories

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I had been working as a nurse, and I had suffered a back injury.

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It was actually pretty devastating for me because I was not going to be able to work at the bedside as a nurse anymore.

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At that time, my colleague said, you've got a fire in you. You've got more to offer. Have you thought about going back to school?

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I had three young children. I was working two jobs. There was no other opportunity for me to go back to school other than online.

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Because of the flexibility of the University of Phoenix, I didn't miss soccer games. I didn't miss baseball games.

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I was present. I wasn't gone. I didn't drive away and go to school, and they won't look back and say Mom wasn't there.

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It really let me still be me and have a life, have friendships, engage in my job.

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Now I am the clinical director for a medical device company. I work with hospitals all over the country, helping to establish injury prevention programs.

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There's no way I would have made the impact or the difference that I'm making without the support, the confidence, and the education that I was provided.

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I was a late bloomer. In high school, I didn't do that well. I don't think I had the maturity or the tenacity to really see my potential come to fruition.

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I would say University of Phoenix had a profound effect on how I realized my potential.

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I am a division chief responsible for over 20 firefighters, 20 captains and some firefighters.

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It's very important with my job to keep my people safe so they can keep the populace safe.

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I can have an in flight emergency on a B 2 stealth, and I'm chasing the aircraft down the runway with fire trucks following me

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lights and sirens blazing, having to call for permission from the tower, having to talk on another radio talking to the pilot

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telling the medics whether they need to stand down. Just doing a million things at once, trying to organize the chaos, as I would call it.

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Then after, do my best to take a step back and say, wow, that was really cool. How many people will get to do things like that?

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I would not be prepared. I would not feel like I was in the right wheelhouse without the skills I got from the University of Phoenix.

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I'm proud of going through the experience and then being able to use that directly into my profession and make me a better firefighter, make me a better division chief, make me a better manager, make me all around better as a working professional.