Great schools and training programs offer learning opportunities that go far beyond the syllabus. We asked some amazing folks from the community to share stories from their educational journey with us.

Jimmy Dang.

We had this saying in our DYC MOT (D’Youville College Master’s of Occupational Therapy) class of 2018. It was 83s gets degrees. The program itself brought many challenges and as much as we said that saying amongst ourselves we all tried our best. 83s was the minimum final grade in a class we could get, so if we were to get an 82 in one course at the end of the semester, we would be placed on academic probation. Read more>>

Michelle Marshall

I graduated from Iowa State University with a degree in Sports Management with an emphasis on exercise science. At that time my goal was to work in the sports management/business side and become the first female to run a professional football front office. Little did I know I would end up using my science classes such as biomechanics, exercise science, exercise physiology, and anatomy later in life. I worked for the Iowa State athletic office and 3 professional arena football teams in which I was surrounded by sports minded and motivated individuals day in and day out. Read more>>

Linda Ruvalcaba

In the summer of 2014, I did a two-week study abroad program in Vienna, Austria. I was studying Dream Analysis and Existential Analysis at the Sigmund Freud University. It was an experience that changed my life for the better. The previous year, I had gotten divorced and moved to Los Angeles to return to school for a PsyD in Clinical Psychology. While my year in LA was a beautiful time of exploration, I didn’t have much direction in life beyond that PsyD program. Read more>>

Garry O’Neal, Jr.

While anyone can profess to be a Coach, for the most part, you’d want a coach who has had training/education in human behavior and counseling. I attended a Life Coach training by a Professional Life Coach, and it was really amazing! Learning the intricacies of what it means to be a Life Coach, how sessions go, and even the business aspect was great. The biggest eye opener, was how much was centered around us individually; our goals, our beliefs (positive and negative),, and the work that we internally had to put in before we became coaches. Read more>>