Passion Sparrow wasn’t sure what she wanted to do when she graduated from high school. Her uncle, a retired master sergeant, suggested she give the U.S. Air Force a try.

Four years of military service enabled Sparrow, originally from Brooklyn, New York, to explore her interest in science as a lab tech at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas. She stayed in the Alamo city after discharge to earn a Bachelor of Sciences in Medical Laboratory Sciences from The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. Additionally, Sparrow earned her Doctor of Public Health (DrPH) from the UTHealth Houston School of Public Health.

“I have been working on the clinical research side for a while, but feel like there are so many more opportunities with a background in nursing,” said Sparrow, who is completing the accelerated Pacesetter BSN program at Cizik School of Nursing at UTHealth Houston. “Nursing will enable me to expand my breadth of clinical knowledge and impact patients in a different way, on a much larger scale.”

The GI Bill and the Nancy A. Akers Endowed Scholarship are helping her pay for the BSN degree.

Sparrow finds oncology and emergency/trauma care interesting, but she is open to exploring the many career options available to nurses. She aspires to become a health care executive, university faculty member, or nursing entrepreneur in the future.

Youth considering the military should “go for it,” advised Sparrow, who continues to serve in the U.S. Army Reserves.

“You gain valuable skills in the military, and the educational benefits enable you to expand on those skills and serve your community,” she said. “You can leverage your military benefits to achieve all of your career and educational goals. Opportunities are limitless.”