Student Spotlight: Andrea Arnold

Originally from the Bay Area, Andrea Arnold is a first-generation college student who earned her bachelor’s from St. Mary’s College of California. Unsure what she wanted to do at that time, she pursued business because of its broad application to many careers.

“I was the first in my family to go to college, and that was a big deal for me. I come from a Mexican family where the men are the providers and the women stay home with kids. When I wanted to go to college, that was different from what my parents knew, and they didn’t really understand what it meant, so it took a lot of convincing for them to even allow me to go to college,” Andrea explained.

Soon, she landed a job in sales at Coca-Cola. “My dad was really proud of me. I think he was proud to see me going on a different path than he had – and he recognized the opportunities I had been given because I had this college degree. But deep down, I hated it at Coke. I was dreading every day and it was a very unhappy time for me, but I kept going as long as I could mostly for my dad because I didn’t want to let him down.”

Even though her career wasn’t ideal, Andrea’s life wasn’t all sadness in that time. While she was working at Coca-Cola, she got engaged and married. With the love of her life in her corner, she felt supported enough to make a change.

“We did something really crazy! I quit my job at Coke, he left his job in finance, and we moved to San Diego without a job lined up for either of us! It sounds crazy – I didn’t really have an exit plan from Coke, but I had my husband in my court. I knew we could figure it out, and I knew I wanted to pursue something else. I just wasn’t sure yet what that was,” she remembered.

Her move to San Diego led her to find her true passion. Andrea had always been an athlete, but her unhappiness at work had caused her to lose sight of that. Her new community was full of people running and pursuing healthy eating habits. “Moving to San Diego ignited me! I got into running and health, and I really got into cooking. My whole life changed from that moment. I felt like finally I wasn’t being held back – I was growing up and becoming who I was meant to be.”

Andrea got a job working the front desk in a department at Kaiser Permanente, and eventually she introduced herself to the manager of Positive Choice, the nutrition and wellness center there. “On my lunch break from the front desk, I went over and I was bold and relentless. I told her how much I wanted to work there, and a couple weeks later, she hired me.” In less than six months, she was promoted to lifestyle educator.

Andrea began taking a nutrition course at a community college and realized that nutrition was her calling. She completed prerequisites, applied and was accepted to the Didactic Program in Dietetics (DPD) at San Diego State. “I was training for the Boston Marathon at that time, too, so it was a very pivotal time in my life, and I felt like I was on top of the world. My husband and I also wanted to start a family. And I know this sounds like a lot going on, but my other calling in life was to be a mother. So right when my life was at its peak busyness, we decided to have a baby.”

A couple of weeks after beginning the on-campus program at San Diego State, Andrea’s husband was offered a better opportunity at work that required a move to Arizona. “It was really hard for me. I had worked so hard to get into that program, and I really wanted to be a dietitian. I decided to choose my family then and put my dreams on hold just for a little bit.”

The move to Arizona was only temporary – about a year and a half – but during that time, in addition to becoming a mom, Andrea jumped into helping others embrace a healthy lifestyle by publishing an e-book with healthy recipes and branding herself as @fitandy on Instagram and on her blog. When they moved back to California, she was surer than ever of her way forward. “I realized that becoming a dietitian was 100% my passion, and I wasn’t going to give up.”

Around that time, she stumbled upon the idea of a dietetic program by distance. “I didn’t even know what that meant! I looked it up and found there were four schools at the time that offered the DPD online. I researched all four of them, and I did not even sleep much because I was so excited. Alabama seemed like the best one to me. I was picky, and I wanted something that was going to challenge me, and I felt like Alabama was going to do that.” Andrea said she was drawn to the program’s dietitian shadowing requirements and its affordability.

“So I applied … and I got in! It was so amazing. I felt like my life was back on track! I couldn’t believe that something like this even existed. I couldn’t believe that I could be a mom and fulfill my dream at the same time. I felt like I had a second chance,” she said.

Andrea started the DPD online through the UA Online bachelor’s in Food and Nutrition program in the summer of 2019, six months after she had her second child. “I dedicated six months to being with my girls before starting the program, because I knew juggling motherhood and courses would be hard. Being a student and a mom, you really have to make sure that this is your dream and your passion. Juggling marriage, being a present and patient mother and hardworking student – there’s going to be bumps in the road, and your reason why has to be clear and close to your heart. That’s what’s going to get you through it.”

Andrea’s why is certainly clear, and she will finish her third semester in May 2020. She’s still considering  if she will go on to pursue the master’s in Human Nutrition, also through UA, after she completes her DPD requirements.

“My parents had five kids, and my dad worked really hard in a labor-intensive job. Seeing that it wore on him, I asked him once, ‘Do you have a passion?’ and he said, ‘My passion is providing for my family.’” Andrea’s thankful for the work ethic her dad modeled for her and grateful for the opportunity to explore her dreams.