Alumni Spotlight: Jacqueline Sanford

There are some students who can never tear themselves away from the Carrington College flock! We’d like to introduce you to one of them – Registered Respiratory Therapist [1] Jacqueline Sanford graduated from Carrington and is now an instructor in the Respiratory Care program [2] at our Las Vegas campus. Jacqueline says her interest in the medical field started at a pretty young age. “My dad was a medical assistant for 10 years; he worked at a doctor’s office and would take me in to work sometimes. I was about seven years old. That was my first introduction to the medical field,” Jacqueline says. She went to UNLV for about a year to study nuclear medicine, but decided that it really wasn’t right for her. “My sister had attended Carrington, and around that same time my aunt was fighting cancer; she was on a ventilator being treated by a respiratory therapist and that got me interested in the field. I enrolled late 2011 and graduated November 2013,” she explains. After graduation, Jacqueline got a job at a durable medical equipment company. From there, she worked at a couple of skilled nursing facilities before she applied to work at Carrington. “I hadn’t planned on becoming a teacher when I first enrolled in school, I thought I’d stay on the clinical side. But when the opportunity presented itself I decided to take the chance. It was a great decision; I really do like it here.” While this is her first time teaching at a college, Jacqueline has been teaching her brother for about four years. “He’s home-schooled and I’m his learning coach. I really enjoyed that experience, and wanted to take it further. I love the expression on students’ faces when they get a concept down! Honestly it’s not what I expected, it’s a little more challenging. But it’s always good to have a challenge, that’s what I really wanted. I love it.” Jacqueline was drawn back to Carrington because of her experience here as a student. “I really like the way the school is run; you get a different perspective when you see it from the ‘back-end’ as opposed to what you see as a student. I like the way faculty and staff always try to help the students as best they can.” But she says it was a little weird walking in the doors as an instructor rather than as a student. “It was surreal; it was definitely an adjustment to be on the other side of the fence, and see how everything works. When you’re a student you may think that instructors don’t do much. You may think that they just show up in class, teach, and go home. But there’s so much more to it. I’ve now got a far better appreciation of my instructors than I did when I was here.” Now that she’s in the classroom, Jacqueline says she loves it here. She wants to continue teaching and she wants to continue with school. “I hope to have my bachelor’s degree in respiratory care in the next three or four years. Then I’ll go for my master’s degree, probably in biology, but that’s a little more than three or four years out. I’m still only 23 so I have time,” she says. Jacqueline says she’s so lucky to have a supportive family and a husband who believes in her. “I’ve been married to my husband Coel for almost a year. We’ve been together about five years. No kids, but I do have a five year old Rottweiler called Rock.” Since she’s seen both sides of Carrington, Jacqueline had this advice for anyone interested in pursuing an education here. “It’s never too late to get, or finish, an education. If your dream is getting an education, then go do it.” To learn more about the Respiratory Care program at Carrington College, click here.

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  [1] Individuals seeking to enter this career field may be subject to screenings such as, but not limited to, criminal background checks and drug/alcohol testing prior to externship, to attain occupational licensure/certification or employment and throughout their careers. [2] Important information about the educational debt, earnings and completion rate of students who attended this program can be found at carrington.edu/cc/rc.