I was born in Germany, but raised in the US for all but one year of my life. My parents are American, and they were both part of the US Military. My mom was in NATO and my dad was in the army, so we were stationed in Germany for a while. We eventually came back to Fenton, a city just south of Flint, and that\u2019s where I grew up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
My dad\u2019s family is Irish, and he is a first generation born American. On my mom\u2019s side, we have relatives dating all the way back to the Mayflower.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I spent my childhood in Flint, after graduating high school, I joined the army, but my contract was broken. I was supposed to have a K9 dog and I was assigned to a different station than the one I was told originally. So I took my general discharge and I left back in \u201996. After that, I lived in a few different places, I moved around quite a bit, I\u2019ve lived in Florida, California, and Chicago but I finally moved back to Michigan from California in 2017.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019m also a single father. I have custody of my daughter, and we\u2019re currently staying at my mom\u2019s house. My parents\u2019 health is fluctuating, so I\u2019m glad I\u2019m able to help them out every now and then.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I recently took a two-year sabbatical from the medical field in 2017-2018. I went into the Local 80 Sheet Metal Workers Union, and I was making decent money there. In 2017, though, I got laid off. Then in early 2018, I was looking around for pretty much anything to help me get me back into the medical field, something stable. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
So, with that, I had contacted the FHEO and they put me into STRIVE. STRIVE is an organization that collaborates with different companies around the city to help train individuals to become entry-level staff members. They have a three-week professional life skills developmental training. The training focuses on patient care issues, confidentiality of patients and co-workers, understanding the work environment, and conflict resolution. Each graduate is provided with two years worth of case management to assist with retention. After I completed the program, they offered me a scholarship to Ross Medical. I was their first student to ever receive a full tuition scholarship, and I was also the first one selected for a full scholarship to Ross Medical. Before that, they\u2019ve never paid completely for anyone through the program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Outside of that, I worked hard while attending Ross. I got a 3.0 GPA with near perfect attendance. There\u2019s a couple of times I turned in my assignments late, but overall, I have like one or two semesters of perfect attendance. I showed up pretty much every day and just did my best. My hard work paid off because I graduated at the top of my class.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tell me about your family.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n So like I said, my daughter and I spend a lot of time together. I love seeing her grow up and develop her own personality. It’s really fascinating. We also love playing video games together. It’s a vice versa type of thing. I didn\u2019t wanna get her into it, but she got into it herself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Tell me about Flint.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n In my opinion, Flint is a unique city that is certainly a page out of time . I mean, don\u2019t get me wrong, I love it. I grew up here and it is my home, but I think the city as a whole could benefit a lot from embracing the now opposed to how we once were. One of my favorite things about Flint is the fact that we\u2019ve made marks on the food industry, that only great cities in this nation have ever done. A perfect example of this is, you have your New York Coney Island, Chicago-style coney, and Detroit-style coney. Flint is famous for its coney. The Flint Coney is a hotdog seasoned with ground beef, onion, and mustard. It\u2019s really good. In Flint, right across the street from campus, there\u2019s a little restaurant called Leo\u2019s Coney Island. They kinda overcook their stuff, but it\u2019s really amazing food. The Flint coney can be hard on your stomach, but when you\u2019re done with it, you\u2019re gonna be like, \u201cGod, that was good!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n So in that aspect, Flint is a fairly unique city, but like I said, it\u2019s also a page out of time. People here tend to stick to their normal ways of doing things; not many are open to trying new things. I\u2019m 43, so I\u2019m into health and new cultures. I like to understand why people think and do the things they do. Sometimes it makes more sense than the things we do here. We\u2019re supposed to be a melting pot of cultures, but it\u2019s not always like that. And I find that a lot of smaller towns are the same way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Tell me about your training.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n So, with FHEO, they definitely put you through the ringer while you are doing their three-week program called Flint STRIVE. It\u2019s a very difficult program, but they challenge you on purpose. They want to make sure you are going to make it. In the process, they teach you the importance of looking professional. The importance of being professional. Things to and not to say. They walk you through job interviews. They give you difficult rules on purpose, and they try to provoke you and annoy you just to see how you will handle it\u2014whether you will snap or just take it and roll with it. It\u2019s a really interesting program modeled after the military. Through the FHEO, they have a two-part program. The second part of the program is extremely tough. You really have to be a good fit for the program and fit their mold. It\u2019s very strict in that aspect. This program in particular is not just in Flint, but STRIVE is nationwide. As far as offering help with the FHEO, the Flint Healthcare Employment opportunities are the one that have the program and the idea of bringing in people through STRIVE. They will guide you into the school of what you\u2019re looking for and assist you with payments toward your career of choice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What made you want to get into healthcare?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Initially, back in 2006, I really liked working with geriatrics. I did it for a while, but I didn\u2019t know if it was something I could see myself doing long-term. I mean, it didn\u2019t pay very much, but recently, I wanted to take a sabbatical to see if this was something I had missed or if it was something I wanted to pursue for the long-term. I took a good look at it and I realized that aside from helping my patients, I was actually helping myself as well through the work I was doing. In a way, it gave me purpose. So I stepped back toward the direction of becoming a medical assistant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What were you doing before going into the medical field?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n You\u2019re talking to someone who has rolled around and had no goals or angle. From the age of 14, I had a career mapped out in law enforcement. I joined the US Army. When I went there to be a military police officer, I realized that I was around a bunch of people who were not of the same mind set, and you kinda get disheartened at that. With criminal activity, you\u2019re supposed to be protecting people, but sometimes there\u2019s not much of that happening. When I left, I destroyed my career in that field, and it was tough not having a real direction of where I wanted to go. I had gotten married in 2004, my wife at the time suggested I try something different. \u201cGet into the medical field\u201d. So I started as a CNA and I just fell in love with the work. That\u2019s the best way I can describe it. I think it\u2019s really important to love what you do \u2013 it makes life so much easier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What made you want to pursue medical assisting in particular?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n It’s a step up from being a CNA, so you\u2019re essentially just climbing a ladder to get to a better place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Tell me about your experience at Ross.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n I had a pretty good experience at Ross. I really loved the school. My teachers and I got along great. My initial impression with Ross was actually a different one. I didn\u2019t really know what to expect, but as time went on, I got to know my classmates, and they were excellent to be around. You also have a lot of diversity within the school, but it was great because you kinda mold together to work around it. There\u2019s the strong personalities and then there\u2019s the more meek and humble. The teachers were very supportive as well. They have a tough job, but they did a stellar job at teaching.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/rosseducation.edu\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/shawn-and-family-4.jpg\")
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