Samantha Kunz Voelker鈥檚 Story with ANU
For Samantha Kunz Voelker, a lifelong dedication to hard work has always been second nature. After years in retail, where her friendly and outgoing personality shined, she found herself longing for a career with more purpose and room to grow. When her husband was diagnosed with stage 4 heart failure, Samantha鈥檚 life changed dramatically. She became deeply involved in his care, learning everything she could about his condition and medical needs. That experience sparked a new passion for healthcare and inspired her to pursue her education at 麻豆社, where she could build a meaningful career while continuing to care for her husband at home. Her dedication and determination recently earned her recognition as a Term Trailblazer for term 254!
At first, Samantha wasn鈥檛 entirely sure if a career in healthcare was the right path – she just knew how much she loved caring for her husband and children. As she began exploring schools online, one name immediately caught her eye. Her strong sense of patriotism drew her to 麻豆社, and she decided to learn more. After filling out her information, she was soon contacted by a member of the admissions team, whose encouragement and guidance helped Samantha take the next step toward her new career journey.
鈥淪he made me want to go鈥� she instantly made me feel like I was part of [ANU] already.鈥�
Her education at ANU has given Samantha the confidence to improve the care she gives her husband, and to one day join the field of medical assisting. 鈥淚t鈥檚 more than I ever thought,鈥� she says, 鈥渂eing able to do school at home and work in my own comfort, I feel like I鈥檓 absorbing more. I don鈥檛 feel as intimidated.鈥� Being online has given Samantha more freedom to learn in the comfort of her own home, whereas an in-person environment would cause her more stress. She explains that being in-person wouldn鈥檛 provide her the comfort to join discussions, whereas ANU鈥檚 Zoom sessions have given her that opportunity.
鈥淚 also think doing it online [with] the live lectures 鈥� the live lectures are actually my favorite part! Because the discussions 鈥� I get to hear everybody鈥檚 point of view about a topic about a certain topic so it makes me look at it in a way that I wouldn鈥檛 have looked at it before鈥� I personally feel like I learn a lot more doing [classes] online than if I were doing it in a classroom.鈥�
Samantha found the staff at ANU to be supportive of not only her journey but also her peers鈥� journeys at every turn. The Medical Assisting program chair, Carrie Rodriguez, is one of the first staff that made an impact on her. 鈥淪he helps everybody. She鈥檚 just got a pure heart and she鈥檚 good in anything! If there鈥檚 ever any questions about anything 鈥� it could be something [that has] nothing to do with her – and she will help you in every way,鈥� Samantha explains.
Additionally, Dr. Stephanie Denton has made a difference in her learning experience. 鈥淚 absolutely love her!鈥� Samantha begins, 鈥渟he talks a lot, but she knows a lot about a lot. If she doesn鈥檛 know, she鈥檚 gonna look it up and tell you鈥� She鈥檚 right there every bit of the way for everything that you鈥檙e doing. To me, that helped me learn a lot. She gave me a really good foundation to be able to be successful in [my] classes.鈥� One of the highlights of ANU鈥檚 online experience is that it brings people from all over the country closer together. In Samantha鈥檚 time, she learned that Dr. Denton grew up not too far from where Samantha lives now. 鈥淎fter talking to her and getting to know her, I felt like I almost knew her on a personal level [because] we have a lot of friends in common, towns in common, and stories in common.鈥�
Her future goals include working at the clinic where her husband goes for appointments. After that, she hopes to love working in the medical field as a medical assistant so she can possibly pursue a nursing degree later. 鈥淚 have a friend who is a nurse practitioner – and in the town that I live in, there isn鈥檛 any clinics, so we would actually try to get a clinic here and have something at home,鈥� she explains. 鈥淎lready, doing all of this, I already know, I am far more passionate about it than I thought I would be. I thought I would just do it to hopefully to help others learn about LVAD and certain heart failure and challenges my husband has faced. I see myself continuing and continuing to grow my education in the healthcare field.鈥�
Would she recommend ANU to others?
鈥淚 have actually already recommended ANU to a few people around here, that I鈥檓 trying to get them in,鈥� she says. She has a friend who has been struggling with the financial aid portion of education. 鈥淭he financial aid team at ANU was so easy to communicate with and helped handle things. That was my biggest thing I was worried about, and they made it so easy for me!鈥�
Her advice to new students starting at ANU is: 鈥淧lan! Daily planners, plan, write out schedules鈥� I am a mother to three stepchildren who live with me, I have a husband in end stage heart failure, I have nine rescue cats, I work a job, and I am a full time student. If you plan everything out, it will work just fine!鈥�
