MNU After Graduation

MIDAMERICA NAZARENE UNIVERSITY

AFTER GRADUATION

MIDAMERICA NAZARENE UNIVERSITY UNDERGRADUATE ADMISSIONS

Why invest in a college education?

Does it really make that much of a difference for your future?

These are important and pressing questions we hear from students and parents all the time. A college education is a big investment – you should know where it’s going to take you.

We don’t need to overwhelm you with reasons; we let the numbers speak for themselves. Over the past 40 years, employees with a bachelor’s degree earn on average 56% more than those who only have a high school diploma.

That difference means that bachelor graduates on average earn an extra $1 million more over a lifetime.

96% of MNU graduates agree that MNU’s business programs prepared them with the skills and knowledge to succeed in a business career or graduate school. 90.8% of our 2014 BSN nursing students passed the NCLEX-RN® exam the first time they took it - far surpassing the national average of 84.9%, So, where will a degree from MNU take you? Meet some of our own Pioneer alumni who are working in a variety of industries and in cities around the world, and see for yourself. These are just some of their many stories…

Sincerely,

Derry Ebert Associate Vice President and Dean for Traditional Enrollment

2030 E. College Way, Olathe, KS 66062-1899 913.971.3380 | Fax 913.971.3481 | www.mnu.edu/admissions

WHAT TYPE OF CAREERS DO MNU ALUMS PURSUE? WHERE DO MNU ALUMS ACTUALLY WORK? WHAT COMPANIES HIRE MNU GRADUATES?

Authentic lives. Transformed by Christ. Serving others.

THAT’S THE ULTIMATE PAYOFF.

www.mnu.edu/value

LISA NAJARIAN

CAREER - VETERINARIAN MAJOR - BIOLOGY ‘07 It doesn’t take holding down a lioness during surgery for Dr. Lisa Najarian, biology major, to be affirmed in her calling. Usually it comes just from seeing a four-legged passenger with its head out the window on the road. “God placed an empathy and compassion in me for animals,” says Najarian, who continued her education onto the competitive path of veterinary school.

Highly competitive, there are only 30 veterinary schools in the country. Most have small class sizes of 70 to 100 students. In fact, Najarian was wait listed her first year. She took a job as a vet assistant/technician and applied to four schools the following year—two accepted her! She laughs thinking of a question from the University of Missouri College of Veterinary Medicine, “What will you do if you don’t get in?”

“I said, ‘Well, if you don’t pick me, I’ll go to Illinois.’”

They picked her.

“I felt like MNU prepared me adequately for professional

graduate school,” says Najarian, recognizing some students worry they’ll lose an advantage by going to a different school for undergrad, “I don’t think that’s true. They (vet schools) like variety. Several of my classmates from MNU are doctors— dentists, chiropractors, etc.—I hope we are doing MidAmerica proud,” says Najarian.

As for the lioness, while at The University of Missouri, Najarian traveled to South Africa for two weeks.

It was her job to hold the lioness still during surgery when the anesthesia wore off—twice!

She also worked on rhinos, wildebeests and cape buffalo. Now stateside at Southside Vet hospital in Olathe, her most peculiar patient has been a hairless rat.

QUICK FACTS → Has traveled to Africa on a safari → Has two German Shepherd dogs → Attended a top 20 vet school program

CAREER - REGISTERED NURSE MAJOR - NURSING ‘09 During an MNU graduation ceremony, a young man stepped on stage and took his oath of office into the US Marine Corps. The audience was moved— expressing so in a standing ovation.

But a 15-year-old boy was moved to something more.

Sam Smith, nursing major, was in the audience that day. It was in that moment of standing applause Smith knew he wanted to follow in the young lieutenant’s footsteps. Smith

QUICK FACTS → Selected for the Fort Sam Houston All-Army Combative Team in his first year → Participated in Residence Hall Government at MNU (and met his future wife as a part of this group) → Has two sons, Lincoln 4, and Creighton 2, and a dog, Nala

enrolled at MNU and joined the football team, all while being an active ROTC member.

While Smith’s initial aspirations were of leading on the front lines, God’s plans were different. After joining the Army National Guard to help pay his way through school, Smith discovered that he was color blind. Faced with the choice of becoming a clerk or a combat medic, Smith chose the latter— discovering his passion for medicine during basic training. “I applied for the nursing program at MNU and never looked back,” he recalls.

Smith currently works as a nurse at San Antonio Military Medical Center which has doubled in size since his arrival. He’s assisted in opening a new unit and was one of only six nurses selected to apply for the White House Nurse position. Smith recently became one of only five Army nurses selected to attend the US Army Graduate Program in Anesthesia Nursing— the #1 program in the United States.

SAM SMITH

CAITLIN WIENCK

CAREER - CREATIVE SERVICES MANAGER MAJOR - GRAPHIC DESIGN ‘14 Caitlin Wienck, graphic design major, has a competitive resumé. Less than six months past graduation, it includes working for not one, but two NFL teams. An intern for the Kansas City Chiefs and now Creative Services Manager for the Oakland Raiders, Wienck’s success started right here, at MNU. “MNU really provided me the opportunity to become a jack of all trades. I knew I was capable of great things because I had been a part of great things there,” says Wienck while designing stickers for the doubledecker buses the Raiders will use on a trip to London.

Multitasking is nothing new for this 22-year-old. According to the Raider’s interviewer, Wienck was “by far” the youngest candidate for her position.

Her path to hire included multiple interviews and the creation of an actionable marketing campaign for the team. During the interview process, she also managed a full class load, a full-time internship with the Chiefs, and a 40-page marketing research

paper. “A week after the final phone call, they [the Raiders] called and told me the job was waiting for me,” recalls Wienck. “It was a complete whirlwind.

Unbelievable for sure.”

Wienck’s team includes her boss and the creative department’s intern, and she also works closely with the marketing department. The job is relaxed and fun. Her design work includes passes for VIPs, signage for events, logos, and even all of the training camp graphics. If you watch a Raider’s game on your phone, you’ll get a chance to see her work—she manages every social media graphic from pre-game to post-game.

QUICK FACTS → Named the graphic design 2014 Outstanding Senior student → Earned the only graphic design internship with the KC Chiefs in 2013 → Received a live, on-air shout out from Queen Latifah

CAREER - SENIOR ANALYST MAJOR - SPORTS MANAGEMENT ‘08 A selfless servant attitude radiates from Ramon Fulson. Even when trying to get him to talk about himself, he constantly turns the conversation. And not because there’s nothing to say.

Ramon Fulson, sports management major is what you would call a power player. His company actually gave him that award. Cerner Power Player.

Cerner is a globally-known health care company with headquarters here in Kansas City. The company’s healthcare information technology is used by more than 9,000 medical facilities all over the globe.

“When people ask me where I work and I say Cerner Corporation, the responses I get are, ‘that’s a great

QUICK FACTS → Earned an emphasis in fitness and wellness at MNU → Played defensive back for the MNU Pioneers from 2004-2007, then worked as an assistant coach → Works at the world’s largest publiclytraded health information technology company

company,’ you better stay there.’ That feels good to hear,” says Fulson.

Fulson works as a Senior Analyst at Cerner. His job includes working with client and project teams, problemsolving across venues, providing in-depth solutions, facilitating client testing and training and much more.

He does it all successfully, something that he attributes to his personal drive and determination and his fearlessness. Ramon isn’t afraid of taking chances.

Despite winning a prestigious company award, Fulson claims his most successful moment was back at MNU when he had the opportunity to serve as an assistant football coach. “I have felt the most success when I was coaching at MNU. I was able to be in a position to help high school boys develop into young men.”

RAMON FULSON

STEPHEN HUNTING

CAREER - COUNTY ATTORNEY MAJOR - RELIGION ‘97 As a third grader, Stephen Hunting considered a career as a lawyer.

But it took a year of seminary after graduating from MNU as a religion major to realize that law school was where God was leading him after all. Now as the County Attorney for Franklin County, Kansas, Hunting’s call to serve looks more like what his third grade self thought it would be. His office is responsible for the prosecution of criminal, traffic and juvenile matters within their jurisdiction. They try these cases before either the court or the jury. He even argues matters before the Kansas Court of Appeals and the Kansas Supreme Court.

Earlier this year, Hunting was in Washington DC for official business, “and as I was standing in front of the Lincoln Memorial I reflected on how the journey to that moment started, over 20 years ago, when I was a freshman at MNU. (I’m) thankful for the education I received there, and that it made possible law school and a career in public service,” says Hunting.

Hunting’s public service work is rooted in his own MNU experience. “The emphasis on serving others that MNU stressed is one of the major things that has stayed with me all these years after graduation,” says Hunting.

QUICK FACTS

While Hunting admits that he enjoys winning cases, he says he feels the most successful when he finishes a case knowing that he fought hard, fair and for justice. Win or lose.

→ Interacts with state and national media and the Kansas Bureau of Investigation → Prosecutes adult and juvenile criminal cases → Self-proclaimed, “just a dad—and that’s more than OK with me”

CAREER - DENTAL GRADUATE STUDENT MAJOR - BIOLOGY ‘13

It’s not often that you hear someone mention a phone call as a stand out moment of their success. But for Kori Rienbolt, biology major, the call confirming her acceptance into the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Dentistry was exactly that.

“It was a goal that I had been working toward all throughout undergrad, and being accepted to such a competitive program was a huge accomplishment,” recalls Rienbolt. “I attribute all of my success to my parents and my faith. It has definitely not been an easy journey, but my family was always there to

QUICK FACTS → Graduated magna cum laude from MNU → Runs 5K races and finished her first sprint triathlon last year → Competes for the Molar Bears, an intramural volleyball and basketball team she plays with at UMKC

encourage me, and God gave me the strength to keep on chasing after my dreams when I felt like they were out of reach.”

Fast forward to today—Rienbolt is in her third year of the fouryear Doctorate of Dental Surgery program at UMKC. “A day in the life of an average dental student involves lectures or lab periods from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and then hopefully dinner and some form of exercise before studying or heading back to the lab to work on projects. Then you wake up and repeat,” says Rienbolt. It’s a strenuous schedule, but it’s one she’s been dreaming of since her own middle school braces.

“Dental school is truly a combination of art and science,” Rienbolt says.

“I enjoy the challenges, and am thankful for my prior education, which enables me to keep reaching my goals.”

KORI RIENBOLT

ANDREW BALLEW

CAREER - PSYCHOLOGY FELLOW MAJOR - PSYCHOLOGY ‘06 Dr. Andrew Ballew, psychology major, describes his job as continually changing and unpredictable from day to day. “One day I could be ducking under the thrown toys of a six year old in the morning and in the afternoon helping a teenager and parent effectively communicate for the first time in years.”

Ballew contributes much of his success to the ability to work with others, “MNU was where I was first confronted with the need to be supported by others when faced with challenges. I found that my peers and professors taught me the importance of a community that could be both challenging and supportive.”

A Post-Doctoral Psychology Fellow in the Neurodevelopmental Disorders Diagnostic Clinic at Canvas Health, Ballew works with children and adolescents to help clarify a variety of diagnoses from developmental disorders to mental health issues. He also helps develop recommendations for each individual client.

Immediately after graduating MNU, Ballew was accepted to the prestigious graduate program at The Chicago School of Professional Psychology to obtain a Doctorate of Psychology in Clinical Psychology. He moved from Kansas City, to Chicago, to New Hampshire (for an internship) before being hired by Canvas Health in Minnesota.

“I feel like I have reached success when I sense that a ‘light bulb’ has turned on with my clients and when they, or their parents, feel like I was able to identify their needs in an understandable manner and set them on a path of growth,” says Ballew.

QUICK FACTS → Has researched fetal alcohol spectrum disorders → Loves to play and watch basketball (especially the Spurs) → Proud dad of an active toddler

CAREER - ATTORNEY MAJOR - MARKETING ‘10

Adrien Piercy is an attorney with Bever Dye, LC in Wichita, KS. But before that she was a marketing major at MNU. In 2007, she was even named Marketing Student of the Year.

Today, Piercy deals primarily with transactional work rather than litigation. She knew early on that she wanted to work with estate planning because these unique plans allow her the opportunity to use her God-given creativity to help others.

While earning her juris doctorate at University of Kansas School of Law, a nationally ranked law school, Piercy received the CALI Award for Estate Planning by having the highest score of her entire law school class. After completing an internship with Bever Dye, LC, she was offered her current position, even before entering her third year of law school.

But, believe it or not, Piercy’s awards

and her early job offer are not what she recognizes as her most successful moments. “I feel most successful when, at the end of the day, I’ve done a good job balancing my work life and personal life. When you get older you realize how hard it is to be a full-time Christian and a full-time attorney and a full-time wife. When I get to the end of the day and feel like I’ve spent good time with my husband, good time with the Lord and worked hard, I know I’ve done a good job for the day.”

QUICK FACTS → Member of the Kansas State Bar Association → Completed her J.D. at the University of Kansas School of Law → She’s probably having pizza for dinner (or she could be, because she could eat it for every meal)

ADRIEN PIERCY

STEPHANIE LOBDELL

CAREER - PASTOR MAJOR - CHRISTIAN EDUCATION ‘07 Stephanie Lobdell, Christian Education and Spanish double major, can’t define a “typical” day at work. Dropping in on friends, preparing board notes, visiting hospitals, taking in a youth football game, enjoying a dance recital, or looking for a runaway teenager—are all potential daily activities for this copastor of Kingston (Missouri) Church of the Nazarene. Oh, and somewhere in there she needs to write a sermon for Sunday.

“I look at my daily tasks, particularly the tasks of writing sermons and teaching, and think, there is no way I could do this job faithfully without my education. Without my education, I am almost certain that I would do damage to the people and to myself,” says Lobdell.

She and her husband, Tommy, copastor the church—alternating preaching, co-leading board meetings and dividing other tasks according to their gifts. This isn’t the first time these two have served in ministry together. Newly married and

newly graduated, the couple headed to Sicily for a year of serving in relational ministry with Nazarene Mission Corps.

“We did very little preaching, but did a whole lot of living alongside people.

It was a powerful and meaningful experience,” she remembers.

Relational ministry is a gift for Lobdell —a gift that God is using. From teenagers wrestling with living like Jesus in the real world, to decade-long feuds finding reconciliation, Lobdell can testify of many changed lives. A list that is continually growing. And likely will for years.

QUICK FACTS → Member of the Wesleyan Holiness Women Clergy → Known as the running preacher—she is currently training for her third half marathon → Fluent in Spanish, conversational in Italian

CAREER - ASSOCIATE PRINCIPAL MAJOR - ENGLISH EDUCATION ‘07 His experience teaching AP language and composition, yearbook, graphic design, web, animation, video classes, 9th, 10th, and 11th grade English, and coaching baseball and football makes it hard to guess exactly what major Blake Revelle earned at MNU. Revelle, an English education major, began his career teaching full-time at Olathe Northwest High School, eventually earning a master’s degree in School Leadership from Emporia State University in 2012. He has recently added associate principal at Lexington

QUICK FACTS → Has coached both football and baseball → Is well-versed in journalism, graphic design, videography and photography → Was nominated for the 2014-2015 Kansas Teacher of the Year

Trails Middle School in De Soto, Kansas to his ever-expanding resumé.

Revelle’s teaching path began out of his desire to make a difference. “I love having the opportunity to impact student lives each day,” Revelle explains, “Now, I have the opportunity to serve our school and community as an associate principal, and it’s exciting.” His desire to serve the people around him also contributes to his success.

“I think the thing that contributes to the success I’ve been able to have is the fact that I strive to build meaningful relationships with those I work with— be it students, parents, staff, coaches, or other stakeholders. This has to be an intentional, daily action, not something I just say. I truly believe if I am good to people, take a genuine interest in prioritizing others before self, and treat individuals fairly and consistently, all of the other pieces fall into place,” says Revelle.

BLAKE REVELLE

SUCCESS STARTS HERE.

www.mnu.edu/value | 913.971.3380 | admissions@mnu.edu 2030 East College Way Olathe KS 66062-1899