Make the Leap

Persisting and Thriving After Graduation

• Ross Education • Season 3 • Episode 2

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What if your first diploma isn’t an ending, but the start of everything you hoped a career could be? We dive into the real work of turning ambition into action—setting goals that point past a paycheck, finding the specialty that fits, and building a support system that shows up when life gets loud.

Marie Aveline, Program Chair for Ross’s Medical Assistant Program, breaks down how early goal-setting and “sampling” different clinical areas help students discover where they thrive. She lifts the curtain on the culture her team protects: instructors who are approachable, honest about what they don’t know, and willing to meet students whenever they need help.

Kay’s story is the pulse of the episode. From homelessness and losing everything in storage to landing her first MA role and stepping into an instructor position, she shows how purpose fuels persistence. A patient’s smile became her turning point; a network of mentors turned setbacks into steps.

We explore how to shift from “I graduated” to “I’m growing”—stacking micro-credentials, embracing continuing education, and seeing healthcare as a lifetime of learning. Expect practical takeaways: build a simple roadmap, assemble a small support bench, and commit to consistent, one-hour blocks that compound into confidence. If plan A fails, go to plan B through Z; momentum beats perfection.

Subscribe, share this episode with someone who needs a nudge, and leave a review with your next small step. Let’s keep making the leap—together.

We’d love to hear from! Send us a message or topic idea.


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Andy:

Welcome back to Make the Leap, the official Ross College podcast. Today, we explore how to turn your ambition into action and your enrollment into a launch pad for your future. I'm your host, Andy Kephart, and you're tuning in to season three, episode two, persisting and thriving after graduation. In today's episode, we're taking a full circle look at what it means to not only finish, but to flourish after Ross. We're going to dive into the power of early career goal setting, staying anchored to your why, why we could all use a support system, and how that first diploma can be a stepping stone, not a stopping point. We've got two amazing guests with us today. First, Kay, a proud Ross graduate, who is now paying it forward as our newest secondary instructor at the Sylvania campus. We're also joined by Marie Avaline, program chair for the Medical Assistant Program, who has helped hundreds of students cross the finish line and beyond. Let's jump in with Kristen Beale.

Kristen:

Hi Andy, thanks for joining us, okay and Marie. Thank you for having us. Good. Well, let's start with the end in mind first. And Marie, let's begin with you. When students first walk into your program, how important is it that they're already thinking about their end goal, for example?

Marie:

It is critical for them to understand the end goal. Um, we encourage every instructor, every campus, to explain to the students that what they're working toward is a career and not a job. That there is a difference between getting up and going to a job every day to earn a paycheck, and getting up and starting a career that they're going to learn and they're going to grow and they're going to make a difference in somebody's life every single day just by showing up and having the skills that they need to make that difference in every patient's life through a smile, through just being that person that the patient knows that they can count on to help them through whatever struggle they're they're dealing with.

Kristen:

In fact, Marie, what kind of goals do successful students tend to set right from the beginning? Have you noticed anything like that?

Marie:

It's kind of a double-edged sword. A lot of our students come in and they feel like they need to learn everything about every topic that we introduce them to. Sometimes it causes a little bit of frustration because, with it being an accelerated program, we're introducing a lot of information to them in a short amount of time. And so sometimes it's necessary for us to tell them we give you a little bit of information about a lot of different topics, and then we encourage you to, when you get out in the field through your extern site or beyond your extern site, figure out where your passion is, whether it's pediatrics, whether it's family medicine, cardiology, then you take the skills that we've taught you and you hone them in the specialty that you thrive in. So we just we want them to get a small taste of a little bit of every field when they're in our program and just kind of get a feel for what they're looking for when they get out in the field, and then they can experience it a little bit in their extern site, and then choose their career path. A lot of times we get our students coming back to us to give back our new students what we gave to them, and that's what Kay has done, and I love that. Those make our some of our best instructors our former students.

Kristen:

Oh, I love that you tied in sampling a little bit of knowledge to plan what it is that you want in the future, after at maybe at externship for example. And Kay, that is a great transition for me to you. If you would, can you remember your first admissions appointment at Ross? What kind of career goals did you walk in with?

Kay:

Um, at first, when when I decided to go back to school, I wanted to do the MIBOA, but the more I kept, you know, looking more into the program, I realized I'm more passionate about helping others. And once they offer the medical assist the program, I said, okay, this is what I want to do. It's in the healthcare field, and I can actually, you know, help others. And also while I'm helping others, I'm also learning more about you know different things that I could do while working in healthcare.

Kristen:

Oh, yeah. When did it really click for you? Maybe that your education was more than just like a job thing, that it was about your future. Did it was there a point where it kind of clicked?

Kay:

Well, I would say it clicked once after I joined the program and I graduated and I got my first job as a medical assistant. I said, I love this. Like, there's no, there's nothing else that I wanted to do besides working as a medical assistant. And I would say it clicked once the moment when I called the patient back, and she and I smile and they smile back. I said, Yes. I love when a patient smiles at me. Oh my gosh, what a great connection.

Kristen:

And I love it. You know, we started out with the end in mind, you know, kind of planning for what kind of career that you want, where you see yourself working, and and in many cases, that starts out first in the missions department, and then it seems like it evolves as you gain more knowledge and more work experience in the field. And I want to talk now about the motivation and the persistence that has to occur in the middle of your of your experience at Ross. And anybody who's been through it knows that school is definitely not always smooth sailing. You know, there's highs and there's lows. So, Kay, what helped you stay motivated when life got tough? Like, was there a time that you almost gave up?

Kay:

Um, yes, it was a time I wanted to give up to be. I'm not trying to cry. It's okay, me too. Um, I was actually homeless. I was homeless going from place to place. And I'm not gonna lie, at first I thought about just giving up everything, but then I'm like, you know what? Something I can have my kids, but once Marie reached out, and I'm like, people do care. So once Marie reached out, I did vent to her because I needed somebody to come to. Sure. And she she sat there, she listened, and when she listened, I said, okay, you know what? I see somebody as she wants to see me, you know, do good in life. And that's when I consider Marie not just a tutor, but a friend. Because she took time out of her day to help me. When I said I wanted to give up on everything, yeah. But with Marie, she was she was there. She was like, if you need anybody to talk to, you can give me a call. And I called her when I'm really upset, and then it just, you know, then she started helping me out, you know, catch up on my assignments because I was falling behind. Like I said, I was homeless. And so Marie had me to take time out, you know, like at least an hour, you know, to sit down, relax. I work with her, and once I submit something and I see I can say, Congratulations, you submitted it. And just seeing like the confetti and stuff, I said, okay, this this feels really good. And then I started going more and more, and then that's when, you know, just talking to Marie while I was homeless, and then I started doing the like working another job and getting my own place, and you know, Marie has been has really been there for me. That's when I when I say I wanted to give up on all, you know, Marie and my kids.

Kristen:

Well, Marie, from an instructor's side, what do you notice about students who persist through these struggles or versus those who just continue to struggle? What do you notice about their spirit or their their attitude?

Marie:

Um from the very first time that I talked to Kay on the phone, you could hear the passion, the willingness. She wanted to learn. Um it it took me less than 10 minutes on the phone with her to know that all I needed to do was encourage, encourage her. She had the drive. She wasn't asking me to, well, just do it for me, or I can't do this, or you know, she wanted to learn, she wanted to know. Um, and it was just a matter of figuring out how to explain it in a way that made sense to her, and keeping her motivated, yeah, you know, and at the end of every session, we would, I would say, okay, before our next session, try to get this done, and it never failed, no matter what she was going through, she always had it done, and she always had a smile on her face, and I I wish she had her camera turned on. She has got the most infectious smile of anybody I've ever met. You cannot look at her when she's smiling and not put a smile on your on her face. She has got the best smile ever. And any student who can face life challenges and still find it in themselves to have a positive outlook and to be willing to make those calls to me or to any other instructor and say, okay, I'm ready to work, you know, let's get through these assignments, or this is what I'm struggling with this week. And I don't even care if they're calling because they're struggling with an assignment. If they're calling because they're struggling with a life problem and it's creating a barrier for them to complete their work, I'm more than happy to listen and talk to talk them through it. You know, but it's the students who the more challenging students who call you and say, well, I'm struggling with this and I can't do it, and it just doesn't make sense, and they are not willing to try.

Kristen:

Oh, gotcha.

Marie:

Those students break my heart. Yeah, they break my heart because we want every student to succeed, and we will work with them and work with them and work for with them and try everything that we can think to figure out why they have that barrier. Yeah, most of the time we can get through to them. I hate it, I take it personally every time we lose a student, but I love the success stories. I when I became the program chair and I had to take a step back from teaching, it it was heartbreaking for me because that's my passion. And I always tell leadership, I I love that I still get to interact with students and do the tutoring part because of students like Kay or like Takia or you know, other students that I've I've gotten the opportunity to help. Um they center me.

Kristen:

And and you had talked about some of the things that you had done and how you had helped Kay, but what are some things that you and your team do to keep students going when their motivation starts to dive a little bit or slip a little bit? I you I heard tutoring and phone calls asking for help. Um what are some things that you and your team do?

Marie:

Some things that my team and I do to help students when their motivation takes a dive or they run into obstacles, are we encourage them to reach out to us anytime. I have the most amazing instructors on my team who go above and beyond every single day to keep their students on track. They will meet them any time of the day or night. I have instructors who have been known to get up at one, two o'clock in the morning if that's what time a student needs to work with them. Um I have instructors who will rearrange their entire schedule to accommodate a student so that the students always feel like they're supported and they're important, and they go beyond just helping them with their homework or helping them understand an assignment, they help them feel important, they help them feel valued. Um, and sometimes that's all it takes to get a student back on track. They may have never gotten that before in their life, and so having somebody that makes them feel like they're worth the effort is a lot of times all it takes to get their motivation back on track and get them refocused on the end goal.

Kristen:

Hey Kay, you you had talked about how you kind of got back to like you started out looking at my boa, but knew that your your own spirit really was it was more important to help others and get you back to your why. But can you talk about additional things maybe that instructors or even classmates might have done that made a difference for you and your experience when maybe when your motivation was slipping too?

Kay:

Um well I I know when I had spoken to Marie, and okay, and once I moved into my place, I moved into my apartment, it was a studio. I went to get my stuff out of storage, can't get in contact with nobody. When they contacted me, realized I lost everything in storage. Clothes, shoes. I when I say I lost everything, all I had was I made sure my daughter had her clothes. I had her clothes and I had a few scrubs. I broke down in tears. I called Marie and her and the faculty faculty members at Ross. They ended up actually, you know, getting some clothes to send to me.

Marie:

When I let other people at Ross know about Kay's situation with losing her storage unit and the fact that she had lost everything that she owned and had absolutely nothing left except for the clothes that she was wearing. Um, it didn't take very long to uh get an action, a reaction out of everybody. And our human resources department, especially Doreen Kephart, she uh took it as a personal calling and they spearheaded a drive to gather up clothing and other items and get this stuff shipped to Kay so that uh she wasn't without the things that she needed. Um, and it it just speaks to the culture that we have here at Ross. Um, and we truly do value not only each other, but our students as family.

Kay:

That really, really lifted me up because that really showed me like, okay, they're doing this, even though I'm a student, but since I lost this, they're helping me, not just in school, but actually outside of school. That really touched me once I got the box. I said, Oh, this is this is from the school, and I that I appreciated that.

Kristen:

Oh plus, I do agree with you that you're with Marie when she was talking about your kids see you succeed and see you work hard and see you reap the rewards of that, and you're helping different kinds of people now where you might have been helping someone in a medical practice before. Now you're helping students at Ross, so you're still fulfilling your own personal mission, right?

Kay:

Yes, I am, and then my best friend, she was she did not really know anything about medical assistance, but when I told her about the school that I had gone to, and then I was telling her what we actually do as medical assistants, she actually she went to school and she graduated and she became a medical assistant now. And she said she loves it because she sees like the passion that I have in this career that I'm in.

Kristen:

Yes, that's did she have the similar experience with the support from instructors and things like that?

Kay:

Um, yes, she did, and you know, yeah, she did get support from the instructor, but she she mainly did get support from me. Um, you know, anytime she had any questions, she no, she called me. Didn't care if it was two, three in the morning. She would call me, text me, and I would answer it. Like, you know, any questions I I made sure I try to give her the best answer that I could. If I did not know, I would tell her I'm sorry. I have no clue right now, but I will find out for you. I love it. Thank you.

Andy:

I don't work much on the student-facing side of things at Ross. I work in IT, but hearing these stories on our previous episode, we talked to Keisha, who's also a Ross graduate, now working at Ross in admissions. You know, you have some similarities in your stories, and it really amazes me how much some of these stories come down to just finding that one person to start building your support system with. And then once you have the ball rolling, it's easier, I think, to incorporate or accept help from more people.

Kristen:

And then it fills your cup up so you can give to the now yourself, too. I love that. Well, let's talk about graduation because Marie said she's not she's coming to your graduation because she's gonna watch you at your ace HCA degree walk across the stage. Now we know that that is a huge milestone, and yes, but we also know it's not the final destination, it's more like kind of like a launching point. So, okay, how did you shift your mindset from yay, I graduated to uh now I'm building my future?

Kay:

Um, once I graduated and just the feeling that I I had achieved something that not not trying to be trying to be funny, but you don't really see a lot of you know, a lot of women my age, which I'm not old old, but I'm close to 40 that would go back to school. So with me going back to school at my age, actually show people that no matter what age you are, if you got that passion to learn, then yeah, do it.

Kristen:

Mm-hmm. Oh yeah. In fact, tell me a little bit about so it's when did you graduate and when did you end up becoming an instructor? How did that all transpire?

Kay:

I had graduated in with my associates of applied science and medical assistant. Um, I walked across the stage in April of this year.

Kristen:

Very good. Congratulations.

Kay:

Thank you. So after because at the time I was currently a medical assistant at another job. So I'm like, you know what? I'm going to school. Let me just see if they're hiring. So soon as I go on indeed, I actually get a message from Beth stating that she saw my that she was looking at my resume and see that I am a good fit. And I say, yes, just what I want to do.

Kristen:

Oh yeah. In fact, do you use that story in your class in the class about how to inspire other students in your that you're instructing?

Kay:

Well, I'm actually new there. I'm still in training, but a couple of people, a couple of students, they do ask me, you know, you know, how long has it been since I graduated? And once I tell them in April, and then they like, what school did you go to? I said, I actually went to Roth. They've like, you went to Ross? I said, Yes, I just graduated from here. So I understand exactly what you guys are, you know, what you guys are going through.

Kristen:

Oh yeah. Now, Marie, sit while you're while they're in school, what would you say to students who think graduation is just like the end of the road? How do you encourage them to keep growing professionally?

Marie:

I have said to more students than I can count that if they're choosing a career in the medical field, they need to be passionate about a lifetime of learning. Um, there is no such thing as being done with learning in healthcare because it changes all the time. And I tell our instructors that they have now chosen the two fastest growing or the two fastest changing fields to work in with education and healthcare. Um, and so I just tell them this is this is a starting point. Even if they only get to their RMA certification, they will still have continuing education for their certification.

unknown:

Right?

Marie:

But there are so many opportunities out there for them to, even if it's just a micro-credential, for them to earn. Um, but you know, if if they've got bigger aspirations to go on and get, you know, their bachelor's, their master's, their, you know, their doctorate degrees, those opportunities are out there. And getting this first piece under their belt is a great way because we do have a lot of students at Ross who've come back after they've been out of how high school for a while, or they're afraid when they come back that they've forgotten how to learn or they've forgotten how to study. Um so it's it's a great first step for them to realize that yeah, I I can do this again. Um, it it's not as scary as I thought it was.

Kristen:

So yeah, I think they have a lot of real life experience that brings a lot to the role, so that kind of keeps you in as well as your learning textbook kind of knowledge, then getting your clinical skills certified, and then bringing all that together and into future successes, incredible. You'll really want to point that out to everybody as well. Like it, this is just the going starting school and thinking you can't do it is one way to build your confidence, but also a way to increase your employability and then increase your knowledge to get to the next level. So, Marie, how do you create that kind of environment where a student feels heard and seen and supported and believed in? Is it is it office hours? Is it conversation in the class? How do you make that?

Marie:

It's just about approachability. Um, it's about not standing in front of your classroom and talking at them, but talking to them, giving them the opportunity to ask questions, being open and honest with the students, even if it's during a lecture, you know, I will tell students, hmm, I didn't go to medical school, I will never pretend to have all of the answers. I tell instructors that now when I talk to them, I'll never pretend to have all of the answers. But if you ask me a question and I don't know the answer to it, I'm happy to be frustrated with you until we both figure out the answer together. You know, and and I will tell students anytime I talk to them, and I encourage instructors to tell students, you can reach out to me about anything I want to hear from you. If you have concerns, questions, complaints, thoughts, ideas, suggestions. I'm here. I'm here. That's my role, that's what I want from you. Because I can't make this better for you if you don't communicate with me what you need. Um, and every instructor that we have needs to portray that that same willingness to be open and approachable by the students. You know, we we have our guidelines, we have our processes, but we still have to be that person for our students, that they feel comfortable saying, hey, Mrs. K, you know, can can I talk to you after class and know that they can talk, that that's as far as it's gonna go, and they're safe, and that even if she doesn't have the answers at that particular moment, she's gonna be frustrated with them until she figures out the answers to their questions, you know. Um, and just not being, I guess, overly assertive and And saying, well, I have all the answers and giving them an answer that is wrong. Yeah. Yep. In favor of being real.

unknown:

Yeah.

Kristen:

I'm with you.

Marie:

I'm with you. I told I told George the last time I talked to him that in my opinion, Kay needs to be the poster child of his vision. Um I just she is she encompasses his vision. You know, I my favorite thing about him is that he believes and he has led Ross in believing everyone deserves an education. And I love that. I love that. There are so many students at Ross who are here because they wouldn't have gotten an opportunity for an education anywhere else, and has given us the ability to help them in ways that other schools wouldn't have helped them. Um, and she she's a perfect example of that. She she won, she persevered, she did everything she was supposed to do, and she allowed me to be a part of it, and I will be eternally grateful to her for allowing me to have a small role in that. But I believe a hundred percent that with or without me, she would have persevered because that's the kind of person that she is. Um and now she's giving it back, and that's coming full circle, in my opinion. Um, she she is exactly the kind of person that I feel like is his vision of who and what Ross is.

Kristen:

Oh, yeah. All right, I'll ask Kay first and then Marie. But what's your one piece of advice for a student who wants to not just graduate but thrive afterwards?

Kay:

How do I put this? I would say, like, if that is your dream, then go after your dream. Don't let nobody stop you. Do not let nothing get in your way. And also remember, if plan A does not work, then just know you got plan B, plan Z, all the way to double Z.

Kristen:

I love it. How about you, Marie? If a student was needed some advice who wants to not just graduate but thrive.

Marie:

My best advice is seize the day, keep your eyes open, keep your ears open, and seize every opportunity that comes your way.

Kristen:

I love it. Oh, I'll add my piece of advice. Remember that your current the career you dream of starts with just small, consistent steps, and really your first diploma, as Kay just showed us, is just the beginning. It's only the beginning.

Andy:

Thanks for joining us on Make the Leap. A big thank you to our guests, Kay and Marie, for their passion, perspective, and for being such powerful examples of what persistence and purpose can lead to.

Kay:

Thank you for having us.

Andy:

If today's conversation inspired you, share this episode with a classmate or colleague. And don't forget to subscribe so you never miss the next leap forward. Until then, stay motivated, stay focused, and most of all, keep making the leap.

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Brad Constant

Co-host
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George Grayeb

Co-host
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Kristen Beal

Co-host