Nikki Pollock always knew she wanted to help people. Whether she was lending a hand or words of comfort and encouragement, Nikki could always give others something to believe in.
Believing in herself, however, was often a struggle.
“Unfortunately, I got left behind in school,” she laments. “I went through several years of summer school, and I didn’t have the confidence I needed because I was failing. I thought there was something wrong with me.”
When Nikki’s grades worsened, her parents pulled her and her sister out of school, and she was homeschooled. Her early struggles led to her avoiding a traditional four-year college after high school. However, she was able to turn her passion for helping people into a career in health care.
After her 18th birthday, she applied to a Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) program at a school in her hometown of Las Vegas, earned her certification, and began working. For more than 13 years, she has taken care of her patient’s needs, helping them get dressed, brushing their teeth and hair, helping them eat, and encouraging them to stay physically active.
The medical field has been very good to Nikki. Though it can be challenging both mentally and physically, Nikki loves working in health care. She knows, however, that her college degree will give her the opportunity to do something different.
“I needed something that could give me hope and inspiration while still helping people,” she says.
A Support System That Inspires Success
While searching for a college that would fit her needs, Nikki came across the Bachelor of Arts in Library Science and Media* at Ashford University, now the University of Arizona Global Campus.
“They want you to succeed,” she says. “They reach out, and they want to help. They want to make sure that you gain the knowledge in whatever way possible. That’s a big difference from what I learned as a child.”
“I thought, ‘I love books, I love information, and I love helping people!’ and all of that fit with what I wanted to do,” she recalls. “It just sounded like the perfect thing, and after I did more research, I talked to an advisor and was signed up a week later.”
For Nikki, the idea of earning her degree online, as opposed to a physical classroom, wasn’t a challenge. She had done online learning in high school and loved the freedom the University gave her to create a flexible daily schedule and keep her full-time job. Balancing work, life, and school is a challenge for every student, but Nikki found a way to make it work because she had support from all sides.
“I still live with my parents and my little brother and sister, and they encouraged me to keep going,” she says. “If I needed help studying, they were there for me, and they really kept me on track and gave me what I needed to keep going.”
At the same time, she found that her instructors gave her the encouragement she felt was lacking in high school.
“They want you to succeed,” she says. “They reach out, and they want to help. They want to make sure that you gain the knowledge in whatever way possible. That’s a big difference from what I learned as a child.”
Not only did the positive reinforcement keep her going, but it led Nikki to take advantage of the opportunities the University offers students. She became part of the CHAMPS peer mentoring program, learning new strategies for success from a fellow student that had experienced similar challenges and overcame them.
With her confidence at levels she’d never felt before, Nikki kept her GPA up, and she graduated with honors in the Spring of 2022.
“I realized as I was taking each class that my writing got better,” she says. “Now, I’m taking more time and adding details and focusing on my wording and how it sounds.”
A Career-Changing Education
Though Nikki had pursued her degree in the hopes of transitioning to a new career, she found that her college education began to pay off immediately. One of the first things she noticed was an improvement in her writing ability.
Nikki says she’s always been passionate about writing and enjoys working on her own poetry and short stories as an outlet when things get overwhelming for her. In her line of work, however, she must perform a different writing style – documenting every day spent with her patients as a legal requirement.
Before college, Nikki says that she wouldn’t leave as much detail on her forms. After starting at the University, her writing improved.
“I realized as I was taking each class that my writing got better,” she says. “Now, I’m taking more time and adding details and focusing on my wording and how it sounds.”
She’s also found that her other communication skills have enhanced dramatically. Working in the online classroom, where you connect with students from around the globe, challenges the way you communicate – everything from wording to tone – with your peers. As Nikki was perfecting her skills in the classroom, she was also taking those lessons back to her workplace.
“Some people communicate differently, and they might not even speak English, so you have to find a way to connect,” she says. “Those skills are diverse, and you can apply them pretty much anywhere in life.”
Her effort and her confidence did not go overlooked. Shortly after finishing her degree, Nikki was named Employee of the Month, an honor that came complete with perks such as a personal parking space, a shirt, and gift cards.
“It’s all because my charts were so good, much more complete,” she says. “I’m communicating with my peers a lot better than I was before, and of course my emails and text messages have improved.”
Nikki is now a proud college graduate, and she’s on her way to becoming a lifelong learner. She’s earning her master’s degree in library science at the University of Arizona and thinking about how her passion for library science can translate into a fulfilling career.
“I would love to be a school librarian," she says. "I think it would be so much fun working with children. Books give kids an outlet into a different reality where they can disappear from their troubles or whatever it is that’s bothering them.”
Wherever she lands, Nikki hopes that she can continue to help people and even inspire those that don’t believe in themselves.
“I think a lot of people can relate to me because education is something that, for many, seems out of reach,” she says. “I never thought I would be able to attend a university, let alone graduate, and move on to obtaining my master’s degree.”
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*This program is no longer accepting new enrollments.
Certain degree programs are not available in all states.