Single mother went home for help, degree in health care

4/1/2001

Sophomore Patricia Turner studied between classes in the Campus Center building, her books spread out and a pen hovering above a notebook. The 30-year-old single mother left a career in medical supplies logistics in the military to return home to Alaska, where her mother helps care for her 5-year-old daughter while she goes to college.

She has near straight As, and she's looking forward to applying to Medical College of Ohio for physician assistant training, a program not offered at UAA.

She worries about how a UAA transcript will be valued by schools like MCO when she eventually transfers from Anchorage.

“Here, there are a lot of nontraditional students,” she said. “It may be harder to get into good schools from UAA.”