Ask Alyssia Escobar how she manages to raise a family while attending classes in the Health Information Management program at CCNN and she’ll tell you it comes down to sheer perseverance.
“Honestly, it’s been one of the hardest things I’ve ever done,” Escobar says, laughing. “I used to be the most negative, self-doubting person anyone has known. When I first started at CCNN, I couldn’t get it together.”
But that’s not the case today.
Now in her next-to-last phase of the Health Information Management program, Escobar juggles her first-grade daughter’s school with her own courses all while holding down the fort at home with her husband, who works graveyard shifts.
“It took me a while to find the right balance,” she says. “It wasn’t until I joined the Health Information program last January that I found that balance. Now, in the afternoons my daughter and I do our homework together. We both enjoy our quiet time.”
Escobar’s ultimate goal is to work in behavioral or mental health for a hospital or rehabilitation clinic. Once she finishes her coursework at CCNN, she’ll serve in the real-world setting of a medical facility for her 120-hour externship. It’s the final requirement of anyone studying in the 18-month Health Information Management program.
Escobar couldn’t have picked a better field to enter. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics says health information management jobs are expected to grow by 21 percent by 2020, which puts her in a prime position to capitalize on a growing profession.
She says the staff at CCNN has been extremely flexible with her situation, even allowing her to start classes at 8 a.m., duck out quickly to get her daughter to school at 8:55, then return to resume her classwork.
“My teachers are so understanding,” she says. “Everything comes down to time management.”
To anyone doubting whether they can maintain home life while attending classes to further their education, Escobar encourages them to reach inside themselves, find the motivation and go for it.
“Even as the program got harder and I wasn’t sure I could keep going, just thinking about how far I’d gotten meant I couldn’t give up,” she says. “Once I gained that faith in myself, it gave me something to hold onto.”
Escobar says everyone faces challenges in life, but it’s how you react that matters most.
“If I can complete this program, anyone can,” she says. “Even when life gets tough, you need to get up and keep fighting. You will never get anywhere without throwing a few punches back.”
To learn more about whether CCNN is right for you, take our career quiz today. And, to all the hard-working mothers who manage to inspire us every single day, have a happy Mother’s Day. You deserve it!
