Alisha Todd’s Success at American National University
With nearly 30 years of experience in the medical field, Alisha Todd has spent much of her career caring for others and building a foundation for her own professional growth. After moving from Michigan to Tennessee in 2012, she continued her career in health care. Now, while working full time, Alisha is pursuing her Bachelor of Science in Nursing at American National University, determined to take the next step in her career while balancing work, school and life at home. Her dedication and perseverance earned her recognition as a Term Trailblazer for Term 260!
When Alisha started looking for her future nursing program, she initially had her eyes set on another nursing school. She even went for a tour, however she “just couldn’t figure out how to make their schedule work with mine… Their schedule just wouldn’t allow me to work, and I have to be able to work.” She goes on to say this other institution only had their pre-requisites online, while the core nursing courses were in person. They had some flexibility, “but not enough I needed,” she explained. She joined American National University’s program for the workable schedule and for all of her classes being taught online. She found an advertisement for our nursing program and that brought her to us.
“Most of my professors have been really great, I can’t really say too much bad about anybody. Dr. De Silva is really cool! He’s a lot of fun,” Alisha explained when thinking on her courses. Dr. Carlos De Silva is the professor who nominated Alisha for her Term Trailblazer recognition. “It’s nice to have professors more than once! Especially when you really like the professor,” she said, reflecting on her time in Dr. De Silva’s classes.
Not only is Alisha finding success in working with her professors, but the ease of her schoolwork and classroom attendance is great through American National University’s systems. “I think Canvas is really well put together and easy to navigate. The video classes are great… For me, it’s worked well!
I like that the school is just a straight tuition based and you don’t have to worry about trying to go get your books, making sure you have the right books when you’re at the bookstore, or paying for the books separate [from tuition price]. It’s nice to have everything all rolled into a nice package so I don’t have to worry about it!”
Her future goals include working in cardiology because of where she has worked in the medical field previously. “I’d kinda like to get my nurse practitioner after,” she said of her future education plans.
Would Alisha recommend American National University to others looking to earn their higher education goals? “Absolutely! Anybody that’s needs to work — definitely [American National University] will work much better than any other college with your work schedule!” When reflecting on her choices of nursing school Alisha remarks that American National University is “cheaper than” the competitors she looked into. And, even then, she was only going to get her associate with the other university, but she found us and “I can get my bachelor’s degree – so [American National University] allowed me to get my BSN. I would definitely recommend [the school] to anybody who wanted to do it.”
Her advice to new students includes “make sure you attend class” to not miss out on key in-class assignments, and “make sure you get your posts in before Wednesday – just do the work!”
“[American National University] is really all-inclusive, there’s so much that they give you for resources. Some colleges set you up to fail, that’s not [here]. They have everything there to help you!”
