Health Education and Human Sciences | StudentsJanuary 19, 2024

Dress Blues to Scrubs

Written By: Ian Silvester

In May 2024, Kaylee Yandell will become a graduate of the University of Arkansas – Fort Smith with a degree in surgical technology. If you were to ask Kaylee if she thought it was possible, she would resoundingly say “yes,” but her credit would be to the life she lived once she found her direction.

Semper Fi. Ooh-Rah.

After high school, Kaylee wasn’t in a rush to go to college. However, in the midst of working three jobs, she realized she needed direction in her life.

Kaylee was prepared to join the Navy but had a change of heart when she saw the Dress Blues and neat-as-a-pin Marines recruiting office.

“I wanted my MOS (military occupational specialty) to be aviation ordnance,” Kaylee recalled. “He (the recruiter) said, ‘I can get you that MOS, and we can ship you out in three months.’ So, I was like, ‘Perfect. Where do I sign?’”

Over the next four years, Kaylee was in South Carolina, North Carolina, and Florida before landing in California. Once in California, she stayed. Kaylee worked on the Camp Pendleton flight line as a quality assurance safety observer for H1 attack helicopters. When she left the Corps, Kaylee did so with the ranking of Corporal and a new last name.

Kaylee and her husband, Jacob, met around the Christmas holiday in 2017. Both were on base working, and a chance encounter through mutual friends had sparks flying.

“He didn’t go home for Christmas, and I didn’t go home for Christmas, so we gave each other our company. We had a lot of time to hang out and get to know each other,” she reminisced.

As the saying goes, when you know, you know.

“I met him in December, and we got married that June,” Kaylee said with a laugh. Five years later, the couple is going strong and traded in the California sun for the Ouachitas.

Life in the Natural State

Kaylee and her husband left California with their dog and all they could pack in the car and headed east. They landed in Arkansas, where Jacob grew up, in the fall of 2019 and began transitioning back into civilian life.

She described the adjustment as one of the hardest things to do when leaving the Marines.

“It’s a totally different work world outside the military,” Kaylee explained. “It took me absolutely forever to feel like I was where I was supposed to be.”

For Kaylee, part of feeling like she was where she needed to be was challenging herself with something new.

“I wanted to continue my education in the health field, but I didn’t know exactly what that might be,” she recalled.

But the answer came easily to Kaylee. She had enrolled at UAFS when the couple moved and began her path toward a radiology degree during the spring semester of 2020.

Life’s Curveballs

Excited for the new opportunity, Kaylee embraced the challenge of being a non-traditional student, even though it meant doing so with the disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Kaylee took the changes in stride, falling back on her training in the Marines.

“I have the professionalism, the integrity, the perseverance, the endurance—just all of those things to keep going,” she reflected. “School is a lot about being brave and taking risks.”

Kaylee credited her professors for keeping a level head and “making it as easy as possible” to navigate online classes and availability to allow Kaylee and her classmates to keep going.

As the world began to gain its footing, Kaylee realized radiology wasn’t the right fit. She took a year off to gather her thoughts and plan a new course of action.

Kaylee re-enrolled at UAFS in the spring of 2022, using the semester and summer to complete prerequisites to apply for the surgical tech program. Her efforts were rewarded as Kaylee was accepted into the program beginning in the fall of 2023.

But life still had something to throw her way.

“My father had been really sick,” Kaylee said grimly. “The day before I was supposed to start my first day, I had to fly home to Oregon. He was in the ICU. I got to see him for a little bit, but he had two days of no changes. He was in a coma. He never woke up; he had excessive brain swelling, and we had to let him go.”

Following two major surgeries to fight his cancer, the disease took a toll. Kaylee’s father suffered cardiac arrest while recovering from his surgeries at home, which resulted in the family’s difficult decision.

Determination

Kaylee informed Ashley Smith, the surgical technology program’s executive director, of what had happened and concluded it was not the time to continue at UAFS. Smith understood and offered Kaylee support upon her return.

Feeling rudderless, Kaylee was dropped from classes and needed help figuring out what to do next.

“I remember being really down. I thought, ‘Oh my gosh, I just had all these great things. I worked so hard to get where I’m at.’ My dad was so proud of me and wanted me to do all these things. It was so much preparation. I finally found what I wanted, and it was just really draining,” she sighed.

However, in thinking about how proud her dad was of her accomplishments, Kaylee decided to return to UAFS.

“I know I just lost my dad, but I realized I can’t just lose everything else, too. I can’t just lose all of the hard work that I have done to get here. He wouldn’t want that. It’s not going to benefit me at all if I just give up on everything,” Kaylee said.

Kaylee emailed Smith, notifying her of her return to UAFS. Her advisor and Smith got Kaylee back into her classes, and Kaylee caught the first flight back to Arkansas. She was back in class a week into the fall semester.

“Nothing worth anything is easy,” Kaylee noted about her desire to return to UAFS and the classroom.

That mindset caught the eye of surgical technology clinical coordinator Tammy Schaefer, who said, “Kaylee is the definition of resilience. She is persistent, focused, task-driven, and determined to succeed.”

Despite missing the first week of classes, Kaylee’s determination also captured the attention of her classmates. She was elected to serve as the class president for the Surgical Technology Student Association, a registered student organization at UAFS.

The Future Awaits

As Kaylee’s final semester at UAFS quickly approaches, she knows she found where she was supposed to be. UAFS supported her when she needed it most and gave her the confidence to know that she could accomplish anything she set her mind to.

The Veterans Affairs Office was a haven for Kaylee and her fellow veterans to “mesh back” into civilian life. When it comes to her studies, Kaylee said she would fondly look back on her time.

“I’m going to miss it. I’m going to miss college,” she said.

Kaylee plans to pursue a career as a traveling surgical technician after graduating from UAFS. Smith believes this is one of many paths Kaylee could successfully take.

“Kaylee is a natural leader. She is assertive, charismatic, and isn’t afraid to stand up for herself when she knows she is right,” Smith shared of her intrepid student. “She is a great patient advocate and is perfect for surgical technology or any other profession she puts her mind to.”

With graduation on the horizon, Kaylee hasn’t ruled out obtaining a graduate degree. But she is confident that her learning won’t end with her walk across the stage in the Stubblefield Center.

“I won’t be done. I will have a new task, and then it’ll keep going from there,” she smiled. “So yes, I’ll be done, but when I get my job, I will try to be the best at my job and specialty. … My goals will never stop because after losing my father, I have realized that life doesn’t stop. It’s constantly moving forward, with or without you, and I’d rather go with it.”

• Tags:
• College of Health Education and Human Sciences
• Student Veteran
• Surgical Technology
• Non-traditional Students
• Military and Veteran