生命中有几次难得的时光，就像星星在排列，幸运的是，生活中的一切都在朝着自己的方向发展。 法戈 健康信息管理 student Brenna 威尔顿 is currently in the middle of 上 e of those great runs of luck.

However, attributing her recent string of success to just luck is selling 威尔顿 short.  As the saying goes, you make your own luck. This is how 威尔顿, with the help of 拉斯穆森学院, created her own luck and began a new career 她 never imagined possible.

进行切换

After graduating high school, 威尔顿 briefly attended 北达科他州立科学学院 with the hopes of becoming a dental hygienist. Ultimately, 她 was waitlisted for the program and 她 realized 她 didn’不想在等待入学时在学校踩水。她离开了NDSCS，不久便有了四个女儿中的第一个。她在她的家乡北达科他州里斯本附近的一家制造厂工作了几年。

But as her family continued to grow, so did their childcare expenses. 通过 the time 威尔顿’s fourth daughter was born, the cost of childcare eclipsed what 她 was making at her job. That gave 威尔顿 more than enough incentive to leave her job and become a stay-at-home mom.

The transition to stay-at-home motherhood was an opportunity for 威尔顿 to not 上 ly spend time with her kids but to also make a return to school. Watching after her children is a full time job 上 its own, so the key for 威尔顿 was finding a school that would provide the scheduling flexibility 她 needed. 她 found exactly what 她 wanted in 拉斯穆森学院 and enrolled in the 健康信息技术员 2010年获得副学士学位课程。

威尔顿 says 她 decided to pursue a healthcare related degree primarily due to the stability of the field. The factory where 她 was previously employed wasn’效果不佳，因此经常被关闭。但是，医疗保健是“something that’永远不会消失。”

成功的开始

威尔顿 was naturally a little nervous about returning to school as it had been about a decade since 她’d last been in a classroom. 她 says the staff at 拉斯穆森学院 did their best to keep her at ease.

“我的学生顾问很棒，” 威尔顿 says. “他们大概在第一年左右检查了我，并向我保证我做得很好，我可以做到—超级有帮助。”

威尔顿’开始上课前的担心被夸大了—she’s been a consistent ‘A’ student right from the start. The key to her success has been 要么 ganization, something 她 needs plenty of when managing assignment deadlines, her daughters’ activities and the coordination of the gymnastics program 她 coaches. 威尔顿 says a lot of her success can be attributed to simple determination.

“You have to want it,” 她 says. “如果您有驱动器，’ll be able to do it.”

HIT课程的主要部分是实习课程，学生可以运用他们所学的知识’ve learned in class to a real clinic. This experience can be a little intimidating for some, but 威尔顿 continued her streak of good performances. In fact, 她 did so well during her practicum at Family Medical Clinic in Lisbon that 她 was offered a part-time job soon after her practicum ended.

更好的完成

威尔顿 earned an associate degree in 2012, and shortly after passed her RHIT认证考试. While 她 was happy with her position at the clinic, 她 wanted to take the next step in her education in 要么 der to open more doors in her healthcare career. 她 returned to 拉斯穆森学院 in January 2013 to pursue 单身汉’健康信息管理学士学位.

威尔顿’退货的决定已经得到回报—她于2014年春季开始新工作，担任 勒索姆县公共卫生. The job is a perfect fit for 威尔顿, whose duties include tending to budgets, grant writing and managing “基本上是公共卫生的各个方面。” 没有 t 上 ly do her job duties align perfectly for her desired career, 她 doesn’甚至不必离开家乡—当您认为它令人印象深刻时’不到3,000个城镇。

“I got so lucky …我想成为一名医疗保健管理员，我在这里，” 威尔顿 says.

尽管韦尔顿说她最初计划推迟全职工作，直到她最小的女儿上学，但这次机会实在太难了，尤其是在女儿上幼儿园还剩几个月之前。从上学到全职工作的过渡，Welton做好了准备，准备在学业上取得进步—她说她愿意接受‘B’—但是她的学习成绩一直保持在正轨。 

她’有望获得学士学位’s degree around June 2015. If the Brenna 威尔顿 from 2008 could see where 她 is now, both professionally and academically, 她’d可能很难相信这一点。

“我从未想过自己会在这里—我每天不穿肮脏的脏衣服在一家工厂工作，我希望我能打扮得漂亮，” 威尔顿 says. “我一直想要那个。我没有’确实以为我当时想成为一名公共卫生管理员，但这比我梦ever以求的要多。”

It looks as though the hard work 她’终于让自己的运气得到了回报。

做出改变

你的事业停滞了吗？甚至无法启动？一个 HIT副学士学位 要么 HIM学士’s degree 拉斯穆森学院的学生可以帮助您重回游戏并进入 稳步增长的医疗保健行业.  Click the ‘Request 程序 Info’ 按钮上方以了解更多信息！