Key Takeaways
- The University of Arizona Global Campus (UAGC) student Erin Vargas has dedicated her life to service. Whether through her 23-year career in the military or her volunteer work, she is committed to helping others.
- Erin’s journey is proof that while stability isn’t guaranteed in your career, adaptability can be your advantage.
- Pursuing her degree at 68 shows it’s possible to earn a college degree at any age.
- Erin says school isn’t about starting over, it’s about staying prepared and in control of your future.
- The liberal arts student believes the right education expands how you think, and her degree program has given her a new framework for problem-solving that she applies to all aspects of life.
- Erin believes service is a mindset you can apply to everything in life, whether you are in uniform, at work, or volunteering in your community.
- For Erin, earning her degree isn’t about starting over. It’s about moving forward with a greater understanding of the world around her and expanding her perspective so she can solve problems more efficiently.
- Here she shares a three-step framework that she says gives anyone using it a deeper understanding of a problem and its solution.
UAGC Student Erin Vargas is Expanding Her World Through Service and Education
On any given day, a mobile ultrasound clinic can be found parked in different corners of Montgomery, Ala., meeting women where they are, emotionally, spiritually, and physically. Often, Erin Vargas will be inside sitting next to expectant mothers as a client advocate, helping guide conversations that are often filled with uncertainty.
“Sometimes it’s women who are single mothers, and they don’t know what they’re going to do,” explains Erin, who is pursuing her liberal arts degree at UAGC.
For Erin, the role is about far more than ultrasounds and exams. It’s about making sure every woman who walks through the clinic doors understands the support systems available to her, from parenting resources and community programs to spiritual guidance.
Since 2022, she has dedicated herself to helping women feel informed, supported, and cared for during some of their most vulnerable moments.
“We want to educate them about their options,” she says. “We want to make sure that they’re spiritually okay, too. If they’d like us to help them find a church, we have that service available. It’s just a way to make them feel loved and appreciated.”
This is but one part of a life built around service. In addition to volunteering with the mobile clinic, Erin also ministers at a local prison through a program called Celebrate Recovery, where they walk inmates through recovery programs focused on reflection, accountability, and healing.
She also served for 23 years in the U.S Air Force before retiring from the military. Even now, she continues to give back as a civilian through her role as a civil engineer contractor who works for the same military branch she once served in uniform.
“I just came home one day and took off my uniform, and the next day I went back in to work,” she explains. “Same job, just different clothes.”
During life’s busiest seasons, she remains grounded by her faith and a belief that every challenge is temporary. And, at 68 years old, she’s not slowing down.
“What keeps me going is the fact that I know it’s not going to be like this forever,” she says. “And I have God on my side.”
A Career in Focus
Throughout her career in the Air Force, Erin developed a unique and coveted skillset in supply and logistics – one that made the transition to civilian life much easier as she went into contract work. Moving from one sector to another means a change in job title, but never a change in purpose. Erin’s life has been rooted in service for more than 40 years, with her next chapter currently in progress.
Erin’s pursuit of a Bachelor of Arts in Liberal Arts from the College of Integrative Learning is more than a career-focused pivot. It’s part of a goal she set for herself years back to become a college graduate.
The decision to earn a college degree is something that has always been on her mind, even if it was in the background for many years.
“Between my career and my family life, I just really didn’t feel like I had time for school,” she says. “We traveled a lot when I was in the military. My first base was South Dakota, I was at Ellsworth, then the UK, I met my husband, got married, started raising kids.”
With a husband, two boys – they’re now 38 and 40 years old – and an evolving career, Erin says she didn’t want to “shortchange” her education.
However, when Erin learned her company Diné Development Corporation (DDC) emphasizes the importance of education for its employees and has a partnership with UAGC that allows them to pursue their degrees at a lower cost, everything changed.
She recalls telling herself, “Okay, I haven’t got an excuse now, do I?”
A Framework for Problem-Solving
For many students, a college degree is a way to narrow their focus on a particular area of study or industry. For Erin, a liberal arts degree is about expanding her world.
“I realized that liberal arts is a very good degree because it’s versatile. It doesn’t pigeonhole you and get you stuck in one place,” she explains.
DDC is a Navajo Nation–owned company that delivers IT, professional, and research and development services to government and commercial clients. Currently, Erin is testing civil engineering software that will be used on Air Force bases.
Problem-solving is part of the job, but her classes have taught her new ways to approach those problems. Instead of looking for a single, direct solution, she’s asking more questions.
One of Erin’s liberal arts seminars helped reshape her approach to problem-solving. She has even developed a three-step framework that will give anyone using it a deeper understanding of both the problem and the solution.
First, she says to widen the frame. Erin believes some problems can’t be solved from just one angle or one area of expertise. There may be an obvious issue right in front of you, but the overall problem might be shaped by multiple forces. So, you need to look outward before narrowing in.
Second, she says you must determine what’s influencing the problem. Erin’s class helped her see that understanding what impacts a problem – systems, people, culture, values, social background, among other factors – is just as important as trying to solve the problem.
Lastly, she suggests to avoid forcing an answer. Not every problem has one immediate solution, Erin says. Sometimes the best thing to do is recognize that more information or research is needed before deciding what to do.
“I just never even thought about that before,” Erin explains. “At the end of class, when we learned how to do it, I thought, ‘How did I ever do anything before this? Because it is essential to know this.’”
In a way, that lesson is a metaphor for college itself. For Erin, earning her degree isn’t about starting over. It’s about moving forward with a greater understanding of the world around her and expanding her perspective so she can solve problems more efficiently.
Always Adapting to What Comes Next
For most of her civilian career, Erin has been adapting. Contracts end. Companies lose bids. Teams change overnight. It’s a reality she’s had to live through firsthand.
“I worked for one company for 14 years,” Erin recalls. “Then when I lost that contract, we went through three companies in four years.”
Instability reshapes your mindset, as anyone who has had to change jobs can attest. Not only would Erin have the pressure of performing at a high level, but she was always feeling the need to prepare for what could happen next.
But college has changed her thinking.
“It’s been life-changing,” she says. “It’s opened up a whole new world to me.”
There’s a confidence that comes with learning new skills, and for a service-minded person like Erin, that’s incentivized her to share her knowledge and perspective with others.
Her classwork has helped her realize that every situation has layers and problems aren’t one-dimensional. Now she’s making it her mission to share her problem-solving process with others.
“To me, I can’t just sit back and say, ‘Well, somebody else can do that,’ “she says. “I feel like, if I can help someone, I should.”
