Army Veteran Finds Rewarding Career
Working two fast-paced jobs may not be appealing to everyone but as an Army veteran, Alexander Esqueda has never enjoyed sitting still.
After he left the military, Alexander was a night manager, making decent money, at a laundry mat but the lack of advancement opportunities was frustrating. He found the change he was looking for in the medical field.
“The medical field is more up my alley because there’s room for advancement and you can also change your field,” he said. “If I wanted to go into urology, neurology, anything like that, I could.”
Alexander decided to start with phlebotomy. Once he received his phlebotomy license, he enrolled in UEI College’s Medical Assistant Program in Fresno.
“I met with the admissions reps there and it seemed pretty simple,” he said. “The VA was going to pay for it, and I was going to get an education to advance my career. I went to school and I had a good experience and a great instructor. He worked at an urgent care before and he was former military like me, so we naturally clicked. I understood everything he was saying.”
Alexander’s instructors recognized his passion and asked him to be an ambassador in the classroom.
“He rarely missed any days at school, so he was very dependable. If I ever needed help, without a hesitation, he’d get up and help me,” said Jonathan Ortiz, Alexander’s instructor. “He also was the student to go to if I ever needed to contact a student that I couldn’t get ahold of. Sometimes it felt like he was a staff member.”
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During his externship at an urgent care facility, Alexander decided to apply for a Medical Assistant position at a nearby men’s clinic. The clinic was impressed with his knowledge and hired him. At the end of his externship, the urgent care also offered Alexander a position. He accepted both.
He works full time during the week at the clinic and works evenings and weekends at the urgent care.
“I find when I don’t work at the urgent care, I feel like I could be doing something else,” he said. “I don’t consider the urgent care work. I enjoy being there, I just happen to get paid at the same time… When I go in, I clock in and then I don’t know what to expect… That’s what I like about the medical field, it’s always a different challenge. Your adrenaline gets going because you don’t know what to expect and that adrenaline is what I’m addicted to.”
Now just a year after starting school, Alexander is looking into purchasing his own home. He hopes to go back to school soon to become a travelling nurse.
“I have found a community here of people, who, like myself, wanted to do more with their lives, not just to create financial stability for themselves, but to do something more impactful,” Alexander wrote. “I will cherish the time spent here and I am glad to have this community standing with me. I am now set to grow and to advance on in the medical field… I now have opportunities to advance along with this amazing sense of accomplishment that I am doing something great with my life.”
If you’re interested in becoming a Medical Assistant, consider enrolling in UEI College’s Medical Assistant Program. Learn how to become a medical assistant.
