A Night and Day Difference for Riverside Student
When Timothy Thompson enrolled in the Medical Billing and Insurance Coding program at UEI College in Riverside, his life was in turmoil. He had dealt with addiction on and off for years but after a particularly bad relapse, he was ready to do something new.
“During my last relapse I was in a tent in the middle of nowhere and I really said to myself ‘Something needs to change,’” Timothy said. “I’m not getting any younger. I need to get my life back together. School was a big part of it.”
Timothy always knew he wanted to be in the medical field. He had attended a trade school in the past and he knew how valuable the hands-on learning could be. UEI made it easy to get started.
“UEI has multiple programs. If you want to get the experience and the hands on that will set you apart in an interview, it’s a good option to go through,” Timothy said. “My counselor, Leo, was there for me. I signed up in December and then I got Covid so I had to drop out. At first I thought I was not going to go back. Leo contacted me while I had Covid and told me he would be there any time I was ready. I appreciated that he went out of his way. That’s what I love about UEI. The teachers and everyone there will go to bat for you and make sure you get that career and you start the career of your choice.”
“Congratulation Tim, your future looks really bright,” Leo said. “It’s all worth it at the end. This is what we do best, we help change lives!”
Interested In Our Medical Billing & Insurance Coding Program? CLICK HERE >
Timothy has always been drawn to the medical field. The Medical Billing and Insurance Coding program gave him a new way to get involved.
“I really enjoyed it. It’s kind of like, when you’re looking at claims and figuring stuff out you become an investigator,” Timothy said. “You have to question why they aren’t paying. What code did I enter wrong? When you have to write collection letters, that was one of my top things I enjoyed was making up story lines and how we can work with them.”
Starting school after taking several years off can be daunting but Timothy said his classmates and especially his teacher made him feel welcome.
“You get that fear and the thoughts that you won’t be able to, or you won’t be good enough. What if I get into the field and I don’t like it,” Timothy said. “Through learning in class and getting on the computer and having to do claims, I knew deep down this is the field I need to be in and I just kept striving forward. I’m truly grateful for Mrs. Hernandez because she was really there for me. She always helped me out and encouraged me. She had faith in me. That’s one thing I loved, going to her class every day was hearing the encouragement and her being there on my side to make sure that I did everything I could to get to go on my extern.”
After completing his externship and graduating, Timothy is sober. He says it’s a night and day difference to where he was less than a year ago.
“Words can’t describe,” he said. “Where I was before, not caring about life or knowing where I was going to go in life, to now being able to sit there and know I finished school, my externship, there is nothing that can stop me now. I’m in a career field. I can pursue my life… Don’t give up. You can do this. Stay strong. I look at it like the light at the end of the tunnel. I did this from January to August and it went by so fast. There are times you may sit in class and think, this is so hard, I don’t know if I can do this, but don’t give up on yourself. Believe in yourself. You can do this. If this is the field you want to be in and what you have to do to better your life, it’s what you want to do.”
