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How leaving his comfort zone helped Blaine Cole discover his passion and inner advocate

Finding your place in the world isn鈥檛 always easy. For Blaine Cole the search early on was especially frustrating.

鈥淕rowing up I had this desire to be an advocate but I didn鈥檛 know what that鈥痚quated to in鈥痶he鈥痳eal world,鈥� Blaine says.

He attended community college hoping鈥痟e would find his passion but had no luck.

鈥淚 knew I had to do something more聽meaningful聽so I decided to step out鈥痮f鈥痬y comfort zone and volunteer for hospice as a bereavement support specialist. At first, I had a hard time adjusting but I became more passionate and things started to fall into place.鈥�

Not long after that, he landed a job as an聽activities聽coordinator working with Alzheimer鈥檚 patients. Then, to better understand the clinical side, he became a鈥痗ertified nursing assistant and eventually a case manager.

In those jobs Blaine saw鈥痵ystemic Issues with the delivery of healthcare: lack of funding, poor continuity of care, and limited resources.

Problems most would avoid, but for Blaine,鈥痶hey were golden opportunities to become the advocate he always wanted to be.

Today Blaine is in his zone and says聽the Master of Health Administration (MHA)聽is not only helping him discover his inner advocate and his natural abilities, but also find true mentors and countless extracurricular activities to refine his skills.

鈥淚鈥檝e learned I鈥檓 a leader,鈥� he says. 鈥淚 had always seen myself being led, but now I see myself leading and helping people age with dignity and independence.鈥�