UEI Helps Student Reconnect with Her Longstanding Goal in Healthcare

Shortly after graduating from high school, Ines Gonzalez felt she already knew where her future was headed. Drawn to the idea of helping people, she enrolled in nursing school with plans of building a career in healthcare.

But as life moved forward, her responsibilities outside the classroom grew. Marriage, raising four children, work, and family obligations forced her to step away from school and put her plans to join the medical field on hold.

“I wanted to go back for a long time, but life happened,” Ines said. “Then there just wasn’t time anymore.”

As years passed, however, the goal of starting a healthcare career never fully dissipated. Ines continued thinking about going back to school while wondering if there was a shorter path available that could help her enter the field in a different way.

This nagging desire eventually led her to UEI College in Oceanside, California.

Now a Medical Assistant student at UEI, Ines is finally building on the goals she first set years ago. Through the school’s hands-on training, she’s gained clinical experience, rebuilt confidence in herself, and shown her children that it’s never too late to circle back to something important like a career.

Circling Back to an Earlier Goal

Even before pursuing it as a career, healthcare had already had a significant impact on Ines’ life. She had long helped her grandfather during dialysis treatments, regularly accompanying him to appointments and watching the way nurses and healthcare workers cared for both him and the family.

“Seeing how helpful they were with him really inspired me,” she said. “They taught my mom how to do dialysis at home, and that whole experience stayed with me.”

That interest eventually led to her enrolling in a nursing program following high school. But life responsibilities quickly changed the timeline she’d originally imagined for herself.

By the time she seriously considered returning to school years later, she knew she’d need a program that worked around both her family and her work schedule. That need for flexibility became one of the biggest reasons UEI College stood out to her.

“I liked that it fit with my timing,” Ines said. “I could go to campus in the mornings, work later, and still handle everything at home.”

The hybrid structure, which combines online coursework with in-person lab training, also helped make school feel more manageable while she worked full time. And beyond scheduling, Ines said the support system at UEI was beyond what she’d expected.

“They help you through every step of the program,” she said. “Financial aid, classes, career support after graduation — there’s a lot of support here.”

Building Experience for the Future

As the program progressed, Ines found herself most strongly gravititating toward the hands-on clinical portions of training. Blood draws, injections, vital signs, EKGs, and patient interaction quickly became her favorite parts of class.

“Every time I went in, there was always something new to learn,” she said.

She credits instructors Michelle Bryant, Gregory Dauphin, and Rito Yanez for helping all the students feel comfortable while learning technical skills that initially seemed intimidating.

“If we ever had questions, they always gave us their time,” Ines said. “They were always very approachable whenever we needed anything.”

That support carried directly into her externship experience at a family healthcare clinic, where she’s now applying many of those same skills within a real medical setting. At the clinic, Ines helps with blood draws, takes vitals, does EKGs, and is learning more about pharmacy and patient records.

The experience has reinforced her long-term interest in healthcare while also helping her narrow down future goals. Eventually, Ines said she hopes to continue building experience in the field before potentially pursuing ultrasound technology.

Being bilingual has also strengthened her confidence in patient care.

“I can help patients in both English and Spanish, and that’s something that’s really important to me,” she said.

The Student-Parent Dynamic

Ines said that some of the biggest changes she’s seen after enrolling at UEI College are connected to her home life. Her 17-year-old daughter, in particular, has started paying close attention to her mom’s return to the classroom.

“There were times she struggled with her grades,” Ines said. “Now I’ll sit next to her and do homework, too.”

Seeing her mom balance work, school, homework, and externship responsibilities created a new dynamic between the two — an influence that proved to be more powerful than parenting lectures or reminders.

“Now she’s showing more interest in school,” Ines said. “She’s even talked about maybe going into the medical field someday, too.”

For Ines, that may be one of the most meaningful outcomes of her entire experience at UEI College. It’s a lesson she hopes others might pick up on, if only they’d give themselves the chance at career success.

“No matter what you’ve done in the past, it’s never too late to start again,” she said.