School never came easy for Tera Khazanov, an operating room registered nurse resident at Porter Adventist Hospital in Denver, Colorado. Beginning in elementary school, she noticed she struggled keeping up with her peers when it came to schoolwork.
“It was a consistent fight keeping up with the norm. I was always needing additional help from teachers and tutors, and I was spending more time on coursework than my classmates,” said Khazanov. “If it took the average student one hour to do an assignment, it typically took me two.”
These learning difficulties followed Khazanov through middle and high school and continued as she prepared to attend college.
“My high school really didn’t prepare students for options outside of going to college. There was no discussion of any other path I could take. I did end up going to a few different colleges, including a large state school, and ended up struggling at all of them to the point I was failing many of my classes,” Khazanov said.
She always thought she might have an impairment affecting her learning, but it wasn’t until her 20s that she received a diagnosis for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.
“It was such a relief to have a name and diagnosis for my struggles. My doctor said that I had one of the most severe cases of ADHD that he has seen come through his practice, but I was able to be prescribed medication and have been going to therapy, which has been a big help.”
Because of her challenges in school, she thought her aspiration of becoming a registered nurse was nothing more than a fantasy. It wasn’t until a chance meeting with AdventHealth University Denver faculty members that she saw pursuing her dream career as a real possibility. AHU Denver offers fully accredited health care degree programs in radiography, sonography and nursing in a faith-based environment and with clinical training at world-class medical facilities throughout the Denver area.
“I’ve always been drawn to health care, and I’ve been in the health field for almost 20 years,” shared Khazanov. She wanted to help her community but never imagined going far because of her struggles with school.
“I first was introduced to AHU by chance. I happened to meet some of the faculty while working and then was invited to meet with them to discuss my interests. During that meeting I learned that AdventHealth University was a faith-based school that focuses on smaller class sizes and providing resources for student success.”
With the small class sizes, engaged professors and frequent check-ins that staff had with students, AHU seemed like a much better environment for Khazanov to succeed and she began taking courses toward her bachelor’s degree in nursing in December 2019. In addition to small student-to-faculty ratios, AHU Denver provides and encourages free online and on-site tutoring with instructors.
“At my other colleges, I felt like I was a number and that my presence there wasn’t significant. I truly felt valued at AHU and was given numerous resources to help me do well,” Khazanov said. “I don’t want to make it seem like this was suddenly easy for me. It was extremely challenging but having those resources available to me helped guide me to graduate and then to pass my state board exam.”
Now, after earning her nursing degree in 2022 at age 41, Khazanov is completing her residency at Porter Adventist Hospital, a longtime dream come true.
“It’s been a very exciting experience so far. I’m still glowing off the fact that I’m finally an RN,” she said. “For anyone who feels like they are going down the same path that I did, my biggest piece of advice is to just keep going. It’s never too late to chase the career you want; you just have to keep going.”
