Colorado Working Family Man Inspired to Return to College
Today, Colorado’s Longmont Times-Call profiles a man who was inspired by his wife to trade in a lifelong career for something radically different.
Eric Olinger had been working for lumber companies for 15 years, ever since graduating high school. Times are tough all over, however, and the nation’s unemployment crisis met him with a recent string of bad luck, from being laid off to working for companies that have gone under. Still, throughout this, Olinger’s wife was working toward an associate degree in nursing — and he was taking notice.
He visited his wife at work, and saw what the job entails. He researched into the job market and job outlooks for the near future. All in all, he liked what he saw. Then, he took the plunge.
Taking courses at his local community college, Olinger completed his certified nursing assistant training earlier this year — but that’s not the end of it. “After his wife graduates,” the Times-Call reports, “he plans to enroll in more classes to move further up the ladder.” At the age of 36, Olinger is still young with a long career future ahead of him — one that he feels will be “long and rewarding.”
Does Olinger have advice for other potential career-changers? Absolutely. I think the advice I would give,” he says, “is to study the career you’re thinking of going into before you make that commitment. Find out what the pros and cons are.” And for students considering nursing schools? He considers it a smart move. After all, “people are still going to need medical care no matter what.”
Colorado Working Family Man Inspired to Return to College © Copyright 2010 The Distance Daily. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Related News
- Western Governors University Announces Scholarship Program for Nurses - There are currently about 2.75 million Registered Nurses (RNs) working in the United States. Despite that figure there has been a shortage of qualified personnel in the field for years, and now the projection is that the shortage of RNs in the U.S. will grow to 260,000 by 2025. The rapidly aging workforce along
- Gates Foundation Grants Target College Graduation Rates - The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation today announced $4 million in grants to the National League of Cities’ Institute for Youth, Education and Families, and seven cities to boost college graduation rates by better coordinating the services that colleges, schools and communities provide to students. Reuters reports that, “Enrollment at the nation’s 1,200 community colleges
- Program Aims to Curb Mississippi Nursing Shortage - There is a problem in Mississippi: nurses are in short supply. As of 2007, state hospitals were reported to have an 8.7 percent nurse vacancy rate, over half a percent higher than the national average, and things are only getting worse. A number of factors seem to be contributing to the shortage, and experts estimate
- Colloquy and Cal State Team Up For MBA - Big news for online degrees today: Colloquy, a subsection of Kaplan, has just announced a partnership with California State University of Monterey Bay (CSUMB) to bring us a fully-online executive MBA program! Classes will start at the end of April, and will cater to those looking to move up the executive ladder by the power
- Texas Educators Going Back to School - Lamar University in eastern Texas has opened up an online degree program that is targeted at people who are working in the public education system and want to upgrade their credentials. Brian Bowman, spokesman for the Longview School district, is working on a master’s in education administration and certification status for the position of
To report corrections and clarifications, contact Distance Daily Editor Sasha Orman.
