Get to know Sade Adeojo and how she achieved her childhood dream with Purdue Global.

Sade Adeojo moved from Nigeria to the U.S. in 1996. From working two jobs to earning a Purdue Global degree, Adeojo’s story is one of resilience and determination, fueled by her passion to help others.  

Growing up in Nigeria, Sade always had one goal in mind — to become a doctor.  

“I always wanted to be in the medical field. It’s always been my passion,” she says.  

As she grew into a young adult, her goal remained the same. In Nigeria, she took some college classes in science technology, which proved to be only her first step in higher education. What she didn’t know at the time is that with Purdue Global’s support, she would go on to earn her nurse practitioner certificate.  

“Ever since I was in elementary school, I have always told myself, ‘I’m going to be a doctor,’” she says.

Ever since I was in elementary school, I was always telling myself, ‘I’m going to be a doctor.’

Sade Adeojo
Doctor of Nursing Practice, Purdue Global ’18

From Nigeria to New York 

When Adeojo decided to move to the United States in 1996, she knew it would take a lot of hard work to reach that goal of becoming a doctor. In New York, she was putting in long hours working two jobs as a cashier at a 99 cent store and Burger King. The hope of going back to school kept her going during the long days and nights working for minimum wage. And the whole time, she was also busy teaching herself how to live in an entirely new country.  

“When I first came to this country, it was a challenge for me to navigate,” she says. “I was able to overcome that culture shock and embark on my academic journey, and I love it here.” 

After taking the time to acclimate to her new home, she was ready to go back to school. Not quite sure where to start, she took the first step toward medical school by earning her bachelor’s degree in biology. After she got married and became a mom, she didn’t want to overburden herself by going right into medical school, so she put her dreams on hold. She chose instead to join the medical field by becoming a nurse. That allowed her to keep that same passion for helping others and give her family the best version of herself. 

In 2013, after years of working as a bedside nurse, Adeojo was looking for a way to open a new door in the medical field. Her friend told her about Purdue Global’s family nurse practitioner certificate. This was a chance for her to use her years of experience as a nurse to move forward. She graduated from the program two years later but didn’t want to stop there. Her thirst for learning had barely been quenched and, after all, that childhood dream of becoming a doctor hadn’t disappeared yet. That original goal was still lingering in her mind and, with Purdue Global, she finally realized it wasn’t a distant wish. It was possible.  

“In 2016, not long after I graduated, I wanted to go back. My goal was always to become a doctor, and at Purdue Global, I saw that it was an option for me,” she says.  

She jumped right back into school, earning her doctor of nursing practice (DNP) from Purdue Global. And by 2018, she had the doctorate she had always wanted.

Let nothing stop you from going to school and becoming the best you can be. I encourage people to always move forward.

Sade Adeojo Doctor of Nursing Practice, Purdue Global ’18

Life after earning her DNP 

With her DNP finally in hand, Adeojo knew she could start enacting real change in people’s lives. She now works in Pennsylvania as a family nurse practitioner. She’s grateful for how Purdue Global prepared her for this next big step.  

“Purdue Global provided the background to be able to start my practice as a nurse practitioner and to be able to care for my patients,” she says. “I learned a lot and it prepared me for what I’m doing now.” 

She says her favorite part of her job is being able to recognize the medical problem a patient is having, give them a treatment plan and, when they come back to her, see them happy and healthy. Nothing makes her happier than noticing her patients’ lives have improved in some way after she treats them.  

“I love the ability to take care of my patients. When people come back and tell me I helped them or I see a review that says how knowledgeable I am, that makes me so happy,” she says. 

But as her number of patients grew, Adeojo realized she needed to offer a new kind of care. She noticed that many of her patients needed psychiatric help, which, with her current skill set, she couldn’t offer. She wished she could help them all in one place, without having to refer them to another clinic. She became determined to earn her psychiatric certification so that instead of referring those patients to someone else, she could help them immediately.  

“I started seeing patients that had medical needs, but some of them, I noticed that they have psych issues as well,” Adeojo says. “I said to myself, ‘Let me just go back to school and get my psych certification so that instead of referring those patients, I can see them in my clinic.’” 

For a lot of her patients, finding another clinic to treat mental health needs added stress and Adeojo wanted to be able to help. She wanted to be sure that people had access to the same quality of psychiatric care as they had with medical care. Once again, she went back to Purdue Global.  

With her postgraduate psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner certificate, she’s excited that she can now expand her clinic to offer additional services.  

“It is very important to me because I love to take care of my patients. It has always been my passion,” she says, beaming with joy. “I love what I do in the medical field, and I see that a lot of people need help mentally and emotionally as well. I know I have what it takes to be able to provide that kind of care that they need.” 

A legacy of education 

Beyond her patients and her practice, Adeojo’s educational journey is also important in the paths of people closer to home.   

Taking inspiration from her mom, Adeojo’s daughter graduated from her undergraduate program and was shortly thereafter admitted to a doctorate of psychology program. In fact, two of her three kids have dreams of becoming doctors.  

As she’s talking about her children, anyone can tell how much it means to her to see her kids inspired by her passion for education and helping others.  

“They see their mom graduating at this age and think, ‘If Mom can do it, I can do it,’” says Adeojo, smiling ear to ear.  

“My family was very happy and very supportive of me when I decided to go back to school for more education,” she says. Her husband and kids couldn’t be prouder, but Adeojo says she wishes her dad was here to see this moment.  

Her father, who passed away before she graduated high school, always told her to never stop learning. So, she kept his words close to her heart: Never stop learning. This is the legacy of learning that stays alive within her and she is proud to pass on to her kids. 

“My dad’s legacy was education, so anywhere he is today, I know he would be so proud of me.” 

The dream that became reality 

As she thinks about her achievements since moving to the United States in 1996, Adeojo emphasizes the importance of persevering through life’s biggest challenges.  

“Never give up. Anything is possible,” she says. “Look what I have accomplished at my age!” 

“I was working at Burger King. I was working at a 99 cent store. And now I have a doctoral degree. I am able to practice on my own. So, let nothing stop you from going to school and becoming the best you can be. I encourage people to always move forward,” she says. 

Beyond her certificates and degree, she says she is always learning from her family and from her patients. And she is overjoyed to be able to positively impact lives every day as a nurse practitioner. 

“I feel fulfilled. I feel happy. This was my goal in life, and I’ve achieved it,” she says.  

Adeojo is grateful to her support system for what she has achieved. Her faith, in particular, played an essential role in the confidence she needed to persist. 

“My husband is very supportive throughout my educational journey, and I can’t thank him enough. Above all, these achievements in life were made possible through the help of God. He has destined me for what I am today, and I am grateful to my maker for all that he has helped to accomplish.”

Political science alumna juggled sorority life and Navy ROTC commitment while working to fulfill a childhood dream

Caitlin Clark understands all too well the crowd’s reaction when she crossed the stage to accept her diploma at Purdue’s spring commencement ceremony.

It has been a source of amusement over the last few years that she shares a name with a certain superstar athlete — maybe you’ve heard of her — so the commencement attendees’ murmurs, cheers and laughter when they heard her name called were more of a pleasant surprise than a shock.

“It’s made it funny to have restaurant reservations. People never know who’s going to walk in,” says Clark (BA political science ’24), whose hometown, Carmel, is roughly 15 miles from Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, where the other Caitlin Clark is a rookie on the Indiana Fever. “I have gotten a lot of memes about me being a world-famous basketball player. I get a lot of comments, people striking up conversations when I’m out to dinner or at a store or something like that. It’s been interesting — a little bit more attention than I’d gotten previously.”

While their response was understandable, most commencement attendees were probably unaware that there were good reasons to cheer for the Purdue Caitlin Clark’s achievement. That weekend, she joined both her mother and uncle as Purdue alumni and was commissioned into the U.S. Navy, fulfilling a dream she’s had since she was 8 years old.

An unusual fascination

That’s not an exaggeration. Clark became intrigued with the Navy during early childhood when visiting her aunt and uncle in Annapolis, Maryland, home of the U.S. Naval Academy, and interacting with the midshipmen their family sponsored. Her fascination only grew when interacting with the active-duty and special forces service members she met through her dad’s work providing board certification examinations to U.S. Special Operations Command paramedics.

One Sunday while attending a Catholic Mass at the Naval Academy with her parents, Clark observed the many impressive students decked out in their dress white uniforms and spoke up.

“Caitlin asked, ‘Mom, is this hard?’” recalls her mom, Donna York, recipient of three Purdue nursing degrees: an associate (1980), a bachelor’s (1982) and a Doctor of Nursing Practice (2021). “I said, ‘Oh, I think it’s really hard.’ And then she said, ‘I think this is what I’m going to do. It just seems like the right thing.’ So from that point on, everything was about learning about the Navy.”

Clark’s interest never wavered, right up through participation in Purdue’s Naval ROTC program and her commissioning ceremony as a surface warfare officer two days before commencement.

“I’ve kind of geared everything toward this goal of being in the Navy and being the best officer that I can be and being a leader,” Clark says. “That changed what I did in middle school, what I did in high school, where I ended up. It was very surreal for everything that I’ve been wanting in the last 14 years to finally come to fruition and be an actual naval officer.”

In August, she will report for a basic division officer course ahead of a three-year stint aboard the USS Gravely missile destroyer, followed by a two-year shore tour.

“I can’t really tell you why I’ve always wanted to do it, but I have, and I could not imagine doing anything else,” Clark says. “It’s definitely motivating, and it’s motivating to be surrounded by people that think the same way and want to push for the same things.”

A future intelligence expert?

Clark initially planned to follow both of her parents into the medical profession as a naval doctor. However, she jokes that “my love for biology did not persist” as a college student, causing her to change course.

Instead, she found that the classes in her minor, political science, were what truly excited her. That was especially the case when the subject matter dealt with national security and counterintelligence — starting with a course on terrorism taught by assistant professor of practice Melissa Will.

“She was a CIA analyst before, so she had a crazy-cool perspective,” Clark says of Will. “She is an awesome professor, and I think a lot of that stems from all this knowledge that she has from her past life of not just being in academia.”

In addition to sharing perspectives from more than a decade of intelligence-gathering work, Will invites FBI special agents to her classroom to share their real-world experiences with students. Students are often fascinated by this important work, and Will could tell that was clearly the case during conversations with Clark after class.

Pursuing it as a career is somewhat rare, however, so Will was impressed when Clark accepted an internship with the Department of Justice in the summer of 2023.

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“It was great to see she actually got that internship and was able to take those initial steps down that career path,” Will says. “When she came up to talk to me after class, she didn’t specifically say she wanted to do counterintelligence at that point, but she definitely said she was interested in going into the intel track, which was exciting. I hear that a lot, but then she actually was taking steps to do it.”

Clark built upon that foundation through coursework in her minor, French, including an independent study focused on French foreign policy. Working alongside Jessica Sturm, associate professor of French and applied linguistics, Clark selected relevant news articles to analyze, produced papers and infographics, and created a podcast that explained what she learned during the independent study.

Clark’s interest in counterintelligence evolved during her time at Purdue, to the extent that she now hopes to pursue a master’s degree in the discipline once her three years aboard the Gravely come to an end.

“I feel like I really found my niche,” Clark says. “I wish that I had done it earlier.”

Unexpected extracurricular activity

Clark believes many different aspects of her Purdue experience prepared her for the journey ahead in the Navy.

The ROTC program imparted valuable lessons about confidence, toughness and teamwork to be sure.

“She’s always been confident, but now she knows that if she needs to run 20 miles, she’s going to run 20 miles,” York says. “Nothing is insurmountable, and that’s what I think ROTC helped her see. There wasn’t anything she couldn’t do if she really put her mind to it with the right team.”

Meanwhile, participation in another campus activity — membership in Kappa Delta sorority, which her mom describes as “a juxtaposition that you don’t expect” — sharpened other necessary life skills.

“Kappa Delta taught me a lot about living with the people that you’re leading and living where you work, which I think is going to be incredibly valuable when I’m on my ship in the middle of the ocean,” Clark says.

Clark pledged Kappa Delta at the University of Pittsburgh before transferring to Purdue at the end of a COVID-impacted freshman year where she did not attend a single in-person class and campus de-densification efforts had her living in a hotel room instead of a dorm.

She quickly found a home and community at Purdue’s Theta Nu chapter, which she eventually served as chapter president. Although she was one of only three Boilermaker women who were involved in both the Greek system and Navy ROTC, Clark calls the unusual combination a formative experience that helped her recognize the necessity of employing different communication styles when interacting with two extremely different audiences.

“There’s a switch that you have to make,” Clark says. “The feedback you give to someone in an ROTC setting is entirely different than when interacting with a sorority sister.”

Kappa Delta taught me a lot about living with the people that you’re leading and living where you work, which I think is going to be incredibly valuable when I’m on my ship in the middle of the ocean.

Caitlin Clark, a future surface warfare officer on the USS Gravely

‘Find what makes your soul sing’

Clark’s Purdue journey was unique to say the least, but she looks back and can’t imagine doing it any other way.

She took the steps necessary to fulfill a childhood dream and was exposed to subject matter that could become the focus of her career in the Navy and beyond — and she did it her own way.

“Her dad and I really tried to raise her in a way that we want you to find what makes your soul sing and do it. There’s nothing you can’t do,” York says.

Clark has certainly accepted her parents’ challenge thus far, culminating in the commissioning and commencement doubleheader, which just so happened to occur on Mother’s Day weekend.

“It was like blowing up all your firecrackers all at once,” York says. “It was just amazing.”

Throughout Clark’s time at Purdue, fellow students would marvel at the mettle and time-management skills that were necessary to juggle her military regimen, academic coursework and sorority life. But she pulled it off, providing a template for how students can find ways to make time for the things they love to do. “I feel like I got two totally different experiences that have really helped me become a more well-rounded person,” she says.

She said, ‘I think this is what I’m going to do. It just seems like the right thing.’ So from that point on, everything was about learning about the Navy.

Donna York
on when her 8-year-old daughter, Caitlin Clark, decided that she would someday join the Navy

Victoria Durnell’s online degrees have allowed her to rise in a new field and positively impact lives in her community

Victoria Durnell has used her Purdue Global bachelor’s and master’s degrees not only to change fields, but to create her own promotion. What’s next for her? Going back for her doctorate.  

With every degree she has earned, she has moved forward in big ways. Her bachelor’s degree in health care administration allowed her a seamless transition from education to health care. After earning her master’s, she was not only hired, but created a new position for herself at Big Brothers Big Sisters of America. In the fall of 2024, she plans to go back again for her doctor of health science. She’s hoping to use her voice to write for publications on African American and women’s health issues — instigating change at the government level.  

So what fostered this rise in a completely new career path?  

A time for reinvention 

Durnell had been working for years in an education administration role but felt her career was at a crossroads. With her superintendent retiring, she knew her school system would change and she didn’t want to get left behind. She was too young to retire, so she felt her options were to either stay in her current position or go back to school and change her field. 

Durnell found herself looking in the mirror and reflecting on her career, asking, “Am I happy doing what I’m doing? Can I do this for another 15 or 20 years?” 

These are difficult questions for any working adult to answer, but after considering her possible future paths, she knew what she had to do. After seeing an advertisement and enacting a quick Google search, she found the perfect avenue for what she calls her “reinvention”: earning her degree from Purdue Global.

I was able to take two years off my time earning my degree. It ended up saving me thousands of dollars.

Victoria Durnell
BS, MS health care administration ’21, ’23, Purdue Global 

How does a person decide to pursue a completely new field after a long career in a different area? For Durnell, it was about discovering what she was truly passionate about. She realized it was her time to follow her love for sports and exercise, which also aligned perfectly with the growing health and wellness field. She noticed most medical offices need a health and wellness professional who focuses on keeping people healthy, and she wanted to be that person. Her previous experience in education involved administration and management, and she knew she could apply those skills to this new industry — an industry that excited her.  

Another, very unexpected, person in Durnell’s life followed a similar career detour, which proved to her that she could make this dream a reality.  

“My gynecologist was an English teacher, and when she retired, she went back to medical school and became a gynecologist. She is still an excellent surgeon at almost 80,” she says. “It just proved to me that it’s never too late.” 

Purdue Global stepped in to foster that seamless transition from one field to the next. This change was made easier for her because she was able to translate her work and life experience into credits. “My advisor let me know that, because I was in a full-blown career, I was able to take two years off my time earning my degree. It ended up saving me thousands of dollars,” she says. 

Durnell started toward her degree in 2019 and was able to earn her bachelor’s degree in 2021. She jumped quickly into her master’s program, once she realized it would move her even further along in a new career. “I knew the master’s degree was going to make me more marketable. When I looked into it, I noticed that the workload was very manageable and convenient,” she says.  

Durnell celebrated her graduation with a master’s degree in health care administration by 2023.  

“I just wanted to share it and shout it and let people know,” Durnell says, smiling as she reflects on her experience. “I thought to myself, ‘Wow, I really did do this.’ This was a four-year journey, and I was so proud of myself.”

Durnell is grateful that she could focus on school full-time and waited until finishing her master’s degree to apply for a new position. At first, she felt intimidated by rejoining the workforce but was pleasantly surprised by the outcome.  

“I didn’t know what was going on in the world of employment,” she says, “so I threw my resume out there and I was very shocked at how many callbacks I got. The Purdue name helped.”  

She landed a position as coordinator of health and wellness at Big Brothers Big Sisters, a title that attracted her because she knew she could use her school and administrative experience. Not long after starting work as a coordinator, she designed a new director role for herself from the ground up. She felt strongly that they needed someone who not only coordinates but assumes responsibility for the overall physical activities of the organization throughout the year. She ensures each activity resonates with grant requirements, organizational objectives, and most importantly, the children’s aspirations and needs. 

“I kept advocating for that and it was created for me,” she says, overflowing with pride. 

En route to a doctorate

Durnell loves her work now, and she only wants to increase the positive effect she has on others. When advocating for her new director position, she also told her CEO that she wanted to get her doctor of health science from Purdue Global. 

When she talked to her husband about going back for her third degree, Durnell says, “My husband tells me he can’t even think of a time when I didn’t have a laptop in front of me. He actually just got his PhD, so he’s really proud.”  

Soon there could be two Durnells with doctorates, an exciting thing for her to think about. “He pushes me to do things like pursuing my own doctorate degree. I’m so proud of him too, but of course my competitive side is jealous he got there first,” she says, chuckling.  

When Durnell received a Purdue Global email with doctorate information, she looked at the course load and felt the pieces falling into place, exclaiming, “Oh, my God, this is for me!” 

In her current role, she works with grant programs, which helped her realize a desire to dive further into public health issues and possibly work for the state. Indiana has been identified as a state with health challenges like obesity, smoking and food desert areas, and Durnell has made it her mission to bring exposure to these issues.

I’m changing lives with kids and families right now, and I enjoy this work so much.

Victoria Durnell BS, MS health care administration ’21, ’23, Purdue Global

“I’m changing lives with kids and families right now, and I enjoy this work so much, so I look forward to bringing more change,” Durnell says. She also has the long-term goal to write for publications on women’s health issues, a topic that was inspired by her family. Durnell has daughters, so she wants to help bring information to her own family, and women like them, so that they can learn more about their bodies and choices.  

“It is a big deal for women to be able to know these things,” she says.  

She is hoping to write about the intersectionality between African American studies, women’s health disparities and diabetes.  

“I’m very passionate about that, so I’m definitely planning to dive in,” she says.  

Deciding to return to school for the third time wasn’t an easy decision for Durnell, but she can’t wait to see what she will accomplish. After completely changing fields and creating her own position, there really is no limit to what change Durnell will inspire in her community once she holds a doctorate.  

“The opportunity to tackle some of these issues is really big, and I think to have that credential will solidify that more for me,” she says. “The Purdue Global name on my doctorate will make it even better. I can see it.” 

After taking a beat to think more about the future she is manifesting for herself by starting her doctor of health science in the fall of 2024, with an optimistic smirk, she concludes, “I’ll have a doctorate. Yeah, I’m that girl.”

This dad of four is driven to protect his people. So he’s earning his master’s degree in cybersecurity with Purdue Global.

Dan Vukobratovich (MS cybersecurity, Purdue Global) isn’t pursuing his master’s degree in cybersecurity simply because he likes tech.  

It’s because protecting loved ones is something he takes very seriously. In fact, he would tell you his drive to protect his people is what informs every single thing he does. 

He’s always been that way. When he first began to consider career paths as a young adult, he dreamed of a job in medicine. But as a dad of young kids at the time, he could tell right away it wasn’t going to work for his family. So he trained as a volunteer EMT and firefighter. In that role, he started to see how getting paid to work triage was not off the table. 

“Once I got involved in emergency services, it drew my attention to cybersecurity because I realized it was actually a lot like medicine,” Vukobratovich says. “It’s the difference between dealing with the organic side of people and dealing with the nuts and bolts and wires. But the mindset is almost identical. You’re trying to figure out what’s wrong. You’re trying to help someone to safety.” 

And when he decided to earn a master’s degree in cybersecurity management with Purdue Global, his understanding of the possibilities expanded beyond what he knew he could do. He could advance his career while holding steady in the day to day. He could teach a valuable lesson to his kids. And he could use his passion for safety to help other people learn how to protect themselves, too. 

When you have a degree backed by Purdue, it’s a stamp of approval for a lot of people.

Dan Vukobratovich
MS cybersecurity, Purdue Global

Pursuing an online master’s degree in cybersecurity 

His drive to protect his loved ones is ultimately what led him to cybersecurity, but being able to provide in the meantime is what made Purdue Global the right choice for him. The dad of four says flexibility was going to have to be central to his experience as a student — and that’s exactly what he got. 

“Sessions are always after work hours,” he says. “It allows me to provide for my family, take care of the needs of my household. The faculty have been wonderful, but the students have, too. My study groups are really accommodating because we all need that.” 

Vukobratovich works as a senior IT security analyst at Purdue Information Technology in West Lafayette, so the curriculum is directly relevant to his everyday life. As he helps the university evaluate the technology for security vulnerbilities, he’s regularly applying what he learns in class in addition to setting himself up for advancement later on. 

“The class I just finished the term before this one was about network defense and penetration testing. With the upgrades to software at work, we have to actually evaluate everything from a criminal point of view — how can this be compromised, and what is our best defense against those compromises?” he says. “I’m able to take that exact, direct knowledge from class and apply it specifically to what I do.” 

Value for his family 

His family may be his primary motivation, but Vukobratovich is quick to note that their unwavering support also enables him to keep going — in particular, his wife, a full-time cardiac nurse.  

“We’ve been married almost two years now and she’s my hero,” he says. “If she knows I have something big coming up or something I need to get done, she’s there saying, ‘Just go. Do it. I’ve got the kids.’” 

And that’s what powers his capacity to model a valuable lesson for his kids in the meantime. His two daughters are now adults, but his sons — ages 10 and 11 — are at a famously challenging academic moment and being able to watch their dad push through it himself is meaningful.

“I want to expand how much I know, but I also want to set an example for my kids. Education is important. They don’t have a long-term vision right now, but I can show them it gets better,” he says. 

He adds, with a laugh, that his wife’s excitement about what he’s doing is contagious. 

“She’ll bend over backwards and then some to help make sure I can do this successfully,” he says. “She checked in with me about how it’s going. I said, ‘It’s going great.’ She said, ‘Cool. Do you think you want to get your doctorate next?’” 

Her enthusiasm is precious to him, but he thinks he’ll get through the next year or so first before he starts considering the next degree. With everything put together, however, it’s grown his passion into something bigger.  

“I want to spread the knowledge, teach people about it, show them how they can keep themselves safe,” he says. 

An opportunity to keep his family safe and other families, too 

Looking ahead, Vukobratovich is enjoying being able to think bigger.  

“My focus is on critical infrastructure protection,” he explains. “Critical infrastructure is the underlying working fields that run our whole nation by running our local communities like the police department, the fire department, the military. But it also affects other things like finance, medical, transportation, logistics. Most people don’t realize how devastating an attack on these things can be. That’s why we’re seeing cyberattacks against electric companies, water companies, and I get to help keep those utilities safe.” 

I want to spread the knowledge, teach people about (online safety), show them how they can keep themselves safe.

Dan Vukobratovich  MS cybersecurity, Purdue Global

And in the age of AI, that unknown weighs heavy on a nervous public. Vukobratovich’s degree and skills allow him to stand in the gap. 

“For a while, I taught some public classes on this material,” he says. “And I’d really like to do more of that when I graduate. I’d like to show people they can be safe online and that keeping their households and businesses safe may be easier than people think.” 

In fact, he encourages those who are interested in educating others in cybersafety to consider Purdue Global. He says this is a field — even more so than most — where a respected name matters. 

“People are worried right now. When they go to someone to learn how to keep themselves and their families safe, they want to know they can trust the person who’s teaching them. When you have a degree backed by Purdue, it’s a stamp of approval for a lot of people. They know the knowledge this educator is sharing is going to be accurate because they got their information from a renowned university,” he says. 

In the meantime, what this degree is doing for him in the here and now is huge. 

“Having the master’s degree can help me advance further within the university and support critical infrastructure,” he says. “But it also helps me work with leadership to better understand how IT and IT security can help the overall environment at Purdue.” 

From here, he has nothing but inspiration and hope for the future. Vukobratovich has a vision that includes being published for his work in cybersecurity and infrastructure protection. He wants to present at a cybersecurity conference. But the possibilities are infinite.  

“I’m proud of myself for discovering who I am, reinventing myself and continuing to pursue my education successfully,” he says. “A lot of men at some point need to evaluate — where am I, where’s my family at in life? — and find where that opportunity is. Your family is the one thing you really can’t replace.”

Go behind the scenes of a VR game creation and learn more about Purdue’s new STEM-focused urban campus. 

The horn sounds. You launch from the starting blocks, and the crowd goes wild. Purdue Pete cheers you on as you race down the pool. Flags are flying, and Boilermaker pride is all around you. Are your Olympic dreams coming true? Close. It’s the Purdue USA Swimming LIVE VR experience.   

Purdue students and faculty in Indianapolis designed the VR experience to celebrate the U.S. Olympic Team Swimming Trials being held in Indiana’s capital city. Game participants are fully immersed in a 3D race in which they swim for a spot on an Olympics-inspired podium. 

How the game is played (and made)

“The Purdue USA Swimming LIVE VR experience is interactive and fast,” says Jason Guy, clinical assistant professor of computer graphics technology. “Our goal is for any person of any age or ability to have fun. People can jump in and out of the game quickly.” 

Creation of the multiplayer game was accelerated, too. It can take years to design a VR experience. But in just four weeks, Guy — along with students Andres Garcia de Quevedo, a junior animation major, and Lukas Wise, a senior computer graphics major — concepted, designed and built Purdue’s VR swim. 

“The process of game creation is complex,” Wise says. “We break it down piece by piece and tackle each component individually. A lot of prep work goes in each step, so you need a solid plan before you start.” 

User experience was a key consideration: Should the camera view be overhead and encompass the entire pool? Should it be a third-person view from behind the swimmer? What action should a player perform to advance their avatar? These are all questions that Guy, Wise and Garcia de Quevedo explored while designing the game. 

“Andres did the menu setup,” Guy says. “This is what the players see when they first load into the game. And Lukas worked on the animations, getting the avatars to swim across the pool.”  

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Purdue Pete cheering you on? That’s all Guy. “I built Pete using Autodesk Maya, which is a 3D computer graphics application,” he explains. “Then I uploaded the screenshots into Unreal Engine 5, which is driving this game.” 

Unreal Engine allowed Guy, Wise and Garcia de Quevedo to control lighting, perspective looping, the cheering animation of Purdue Pete, the Motion P on the bottom of the pool, the soundscape, as well as core functionality. 

“Core functionality — pressing this does that — is always going to be the hardest aspect of game design in my opinion,” Wise says. 

Purdue’s VR experience uses Meta Quest headsets, which go over a player’s eyes and ears. “They’re self-contained,” Guy says. “You don’t need a computer to run the game. It’s all in the headsets themselves.” 

Wise and Garcia de Quevedo built the VR swim experience as part of a summer independent study they are doing with Guy. Hands-on learning experiences such as this are a big part of what drew them to Purdue in Indianapolis. 

Industry experts, career-ready students in Indianapolis

“My professors are excellent,” Garcia de Quevedo says. “And they’re extremely supportive. I had a solid understanding of art and Adobe before I went into college, but my professors showed me how to use those skills to create something meaningful. They have pushed me to be the best I can be.”  

Chris Rogers, site director and associate professor of computer graphics technology, says that having smaller class sizes allows him to forge these types of relationships with students. “I hold one-on-one sessions with students, even if it’s for just 15 minutes, to check in with them about class, but also to review their portfolios or hear about their career goals or internship interests. 

“My area is video production and motion design. I love being able to help students along on their journey, and then, ultimately, hearing that they landed an amazing job and are really excited about what they’re doing.” 

Creating connections between students and industry partners is equally important to Rogers. 

“Conner Prairie is going through a major redesign of their entire experience right now,” he says. “The master planner for that project is one of our graduates, and we’re looking at new projects to do with them going forward.”

The process of game creation is complex. We break it down piece by piece and tackle each component individually. A lot of prep work goes into each step, so you need a solid plan before you start.

Lukas Wise  Purdue computer graphics student in Indianapolis

He also points to recent associations with the Indiana State Museum and Historic Sites and the Harrison Center, as well as a long-standing relationship with The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis.  

“We are continually exploring opportunities that are unique to Indianapolis,” Rogers says. “Armando Lanuti, president of Creative Works, is on our advisory council. And we have cultivated a close relationship with the leadership of 16 Tech.”  

Purdue’s Indianapolis location plays a key role in experiential learning, which is a point of emphasis for the urban campus. 

“We’ve done many projects where we’ve partnered with outside entities,” Rogers says. “Being in the city, there are so many opportunities around tourism, sports and culture.” 

“I am a huge fan of Indianapolis,” agrees Wise. “I love learning in an urban environment.”  

Garcia de Quevedo says that the city helps him stay focused on outcomes. “I am career oriented and want to get my work done; Indy has been instrumental in that process.” 

Collaborative, hands-on learning

The ability to work closely and creatively with students and faculty who are passionate about their work has been an integral part of Wise and Garcia de Quevedo’s experiences at Purdue in Indianapolis. 

In addition to the Purdue VR swim project, Garcia de Quevedo has collaborated with other students on motion videos, video games and short films. “For a group capstone, I worked with Lukas and another student on a 3D animated short film,” he says.  

“Andres and I met in class,” adds Wise. “At first, we were complete strangers, awkwardly sitting next to each other, but as we worked on group projects together, we ended up becoming friends. The first game that Andres and I developed together was simple: Roll a ball into a goal. Now, we’re creating a VR experience.” 

The VR swim game will be Wise’s last project as a Boilermaker, as the independent study he is building it for fulfills his last graduation requirement. After graduation, he is interested in pursuing environmental design with an eye toward working in game design or the film industry. 

Continuing to innovate and hone his skills is something that Wise says he is well prepared to do: “I feel like a dry sponge being dipped in water, always absorbing new information.” 

Boilermakers pioneer aquatic sports innovation at historic Olympic swim trials event

On May 6, 2024, two days after a packed George Strait concert in Lucas Oil Stadium, trucks loaded full of steel, PVC piping, scaffolding and more lined up to begin the five-week process of building two pools in a place where no pool had ever been constructed before — a football stadium.

Two Olympic-sized (50-meter) swimming pools were constructed on Lucas Oil Stadium’s field for the 2024 U.S. Olympic Team Trials, marking the first time an indoor pool has been constructed in a venue of this size. The pool deck will be constructed approximately 8 feet above the existing field.

The idea to build a pool inside a football stadium is a novel one. But for four Purdue graduates who work at Shiel Sexton, the construction company leading the project management of the trials, every team involved is perfectly suited to bring it to life.

Assembling the dream team

One of the Boilermakers from Shiel Sexton working on the project is Tony Eisenhut (BS construction management technology ’90). As vice president of field operations for Shiel Sexton, he oversees everything that has to do with putting the pools into Lucas Oil Stadium and has been amazed at the coordination and collaboration that has taken place over the two years this project has been in planning.

“Every one of the entities involved in this project is the best of the best. It’s nice working with all ‘A’ players,” Eisenhut says. “If you wanted to build an all-star team, they are all in Lucas Oil today. And you’ve got to have Boilermakers on the team, or we would be behind schedule right now.”

Shiel Sexton regularly works closely with Indiana Sports Corp., a non-profit organization that brings world-class sporting events like USA Swimming LIVE to Indiana. Shiel Sexton collaborates with representatives from Lucas Oil Stadium, Myrtha Pools, Dodd Technologies Inc., Spear Corp. and countless others with a stake in bringing the Olympic swim trials to Indianapolis.

According to Shiel Sexton CEO Mike Dilts (BS construction management technology ’81), Purdue’s role in the Olympic Trials began 20 years ago when former Purdue athletics director Morgan Burke and former Purdue administrator Nancy Cross stepped up to pledge Purdue’s support for the 2004 FINA World Swimming Championships.

That year, Gainbridge Fieldhouse (then Conseco Fieldhouse) in Indianapolis was the first major indoor sports venue to be transformed into a swimming facility. Shiel Sexton worked on that project alongside the Indiana Sports Corp. Twenty years later, Shiel Sexton is once again bringing indoor swimming to Indianapolis, this time at a greater scale and with more innovation than ever before.

“There’s no precedent for putting an Olympic pool in a football stadium, much less two,” Dilts says.

If you wanted to build an all-star team, they are all in Lucas Oil today. And you’ve got to have Boilermakers on the team, or we would be behind schedule right now.

Tony Eisenhut (BS construction management technology ’90)
vice president of field operations, Shiel Sexton

Breaking a record

The swimming trials’ new location will double the seating capacity of the previous Olympic swim trials. And it’s clearly needed.

For this event, Lucas Oil Stadium will be able to house up to 30,000 swimming fans. Shiel Sexton, the Indiana Sports Corp. and USA Swimming hope to break the record for the largest indoor swim meet in history. The previous record of 25,000 was set at the 1936 Berlin Olympics.

Dave Burchard (BS civil engineering ’82), a project executive at Shiel Sexton, believes that this accomplishment will prove that Indianapolis is equipped to handle large-scale sporting events that require innovation and ingenuity.

“It will be another feather in the cap for Indianapolis, which is the Indiana Sports Corp’s goal — to continue their mission to host world-class sporting events,” Burchard says. “This is another success in that path.”

After all, Indianapolis is already the racing capital of the world. Why not become the swimming capital, too?

“Innovation comes from the front end of the project when we first said how many people could we put in this stadium — positioning these pools so that when the cameras come on, it looks like a natatorium that just happens to have 30,000 people in it,” Dilts says. “We have to think about the sight lines, the ticket pricing and the flow for viewers, officials, competitors, suppliers. There’s a little more ingenuity than you think in just the planning phase.”

Dilts says the experience will also be unique for competitors. “When those swimmers come out, it’s going to blow them away when you walk up the stairs to the newly raised pool deck and all of the sudden 30,000 people are cheering you on,” he says. “That’s going to be quite an adrenaline rush.”

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Boilermakers get it done

According to Nate Moore (BS construction engineering and management ’93), there are three main challenges to be solved when it comes to dealing with the 2 million gallons of water that will end up inside of Lucas Oil Stadium.

The first challenge was how to supply the water. One fire hydrant with a fire hose borrowed from the Indianapolis Fire Dept. would pump water into the pools where it will be treated to the highest standards to make it safe for swimmers.

Not only will the water be professionally cleaned, but it also needs to be heated to the necessary temperature. According to standard regulations, Olympic swimming pools must be between 77 degrees and 82.4 degrees Fahrenheit. In the end, the most cost- and energy-effective solution Shiel Sexton and team developed for this challenge was to use Lucas Oil Stadium’s existing hot water heating system with two new dedicated heat exchangers.

The third challenge related to the water comes after the Olympic trials are over and the pools are deconstructed. The water needs to be dechlorinated and returned to the Indianapolis water system — now cleaner than when it started. Because of this approach, the 2024 U.S. Olympic Team Trials will be a zero-water-loss event.

Each of these challenges requires strategic thinking, innovation and expert planning — skills that the Boilermakers at Shiel Sexton credit to their Purdue education.

Lessons learned from Purdue

“Purdue taught me how to solve problems like this,” Moore says.

Burchard agrees. “Problem solving was a big part of my education. It’s a constant process,” he says. “And now it’s what we do on a daily basis.”

Dilts says that Purdue opened doors for him that wouldn’t otherwise have been available. He says, “You could go anywhere in this country and if you say you have a Purdue degree, especially in engineering and construction, there’s a level of street cred.”

And Eisenhut still holds on to a piece of advice that a professor gave him during his time at Purdue: “You don’t have to know everything. You just need to know where to find it.”

The Purdue swimmer qualified for the Olympic Trials less than a year after undergoing surgery on both hips

For quite some time afterward, Masy Folcik found herself watching and rewatching video of the race where she officially qualified to swim in the 2024 U.S. Olympic Team Trials.

“That was my proudest swimming moment,” says the Purdue senior a year after posting a qualifying time, or cut, necessary to compete in the 100-meter breaststroke in this month’s trials in Indianapolis.

There she is, touching the wall in 1 minute, 10 seconds, beating the necessary time of 1:10.2.

The tone of the event announcer’s voice makes it clear how excited he is over her accomplishment.

Next comes the contingent of Purdue swimmers present at the meet, rushing to share their teammate’s joy. They know she just earned a chance to compete once again in the Olympic Trials, having previously done so in 2021.

“Getting that cut was just insane,” says Folcik, a three-time Academic All-Big Ten honoree who plans to graduate next May with degrees in kinesiology and psychological sciences. “I thought about it for weeks after. Couldn’t sleep that night. I was so excited. When my teammates ran behind my block to give me a hug, I definitely cried. It was just amazing.”

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Such a reaction would be perfectly normal for any athlete who just qualified to compete for Olympic team membership. But it was especially understandable after the challenging journey Folcik endured to get back to the trials.

At the meet where she posted her qualifying time last July — the Indiana Senior State Championships in Indianapolis — Folcik was just 11 months removed from undergoing surgery on both hips. She believes that relentless training in her signature event, the breaststroke, caused the labrums to tear in both hips.

Folcik underwent surgery on her right hip first, in August 2022, then the left hip a month later. The rehabilitation process was grueling, starting with painful exercises that simply required her to pick her legs up off the ground. She worked her way to biking and then jumping before she was finally able to return to swimming the breaststroke four months after the initial surgery.

I don’t know that I’ve ever been so excited for a meet as I am for this one.

Purdue swimmer Masy Folcik,
a senior in kinesiology and psychological sciences

Throughout the process, she dealt with reasonable concerns about her competitive future.

“It was not easy, just constantly having thoughts racing in the back of my brain if I was going to ever be as good as I was or going to be able to qualify for an Olympic Trials after I qualified in 2021,” she says. “That was a big thing for me. In my mind, it was embarrassing if I made it in 2021 and didn’t make it in 2024. So that put a lot of pressure on me.”

She credits John Klinge, the Purdue women’s swimming and diving coach, for guiding her through that period of self-doubt. Klinge pointed out that the extra upper-body strength training she was doing while she couldn’t use her legs would be beneficial when she returned to the pool. And sure enough, her arms felt stronger than ever once she swam her first meet postsurgery — against Illinois in January 2023 — and her confidence slowly began to return.

“My coach is the best person ever. He is my favorite person,” Folcik says of Klinge. “We met probably once every couple of weeks, and he’d be like, ‘How are you doing? You’re gonna be fine. I’m not worried about you.’ He just reassured me that I was going to be OK.”

The recovery process continues even today — Folcik estimates that she’s about 90% of the way back to her previous capabilities — so she’s happy to have one year of college eligibility remaining to make the most of her time as a Purdue swimmer. But first, she’s got one significant piece of business to address, alongside three other Boilermakers who will compete in the trials: Kate Mouser (400 individual medley), Brady Samuels (100 butterfly, 50 freestyle and 100 freestyle) and Coleman Modglin (200 breaststroke). Incoming Purdue freshman Evan Mackesy (400 individual medley) will also be among the men’s competitors.

Oddly enough, Folcik says she feels little pressure entering the biggest individual meet of her life, which will be held in Lucas Oil Stadium, home of the NFL’s Indianapolis Colts.

“I don’t know that I’ve ever been so excited for a meet as I am for this one,” she says. “But I would say comparatively I feel more pressure during the collegiate season because that is team oriented, and I feel the need to perform for my team, whereas this one is super individualized. You’d expect it to be pretty high-pressure because it’s such a big meet. So maybe it’ll be more high-pressure when I get there because I’ve never swam in a football stadium before in front of thousands of spectators.”

In many ways, though, the pressure is already off. Not only did Folcik overcome her doubts by qualifying for a second Olympic Trials, but she also posted a better qualifying time than she did the first time around. Whatever she accomplishes next against some of the best swimmers in the world will be the icing on the cake.

I thought about it for weeks after. Couldn’t sleep that night. I was so excited. When my teammates ran behind my block to give me a hug, I definitely cried. It was just amazing.

Purdue swimmer Masy Folcik, a senior in kinesiology and psychological sciences

Purdue experts aid effort to prepare virtual sport for its Olympic moment

Picture a group of Olympic cyclists nearing the final incline in a fierce race for a gold medal. As they begin their climb up the steep hill, they must apply more force with each ensuing pedal. A stiff wind blows in the cyclists’ faces, creating additional resistance they must overcome.

The competitors are neck and neck as they push toward the finish line.

However, they are also thousands of miles apart.

How can that be?

It’s possible because their sport is virtual cycling — an event in which competitors can participate from any physical location so long as they have the necessary bicycle, internet connection, software and smart trainer equipment to meet their fellow competitors on the virtual racecourse.

That hill the cyclists climbed was programmed into the race environment, with each competitor needing to exert more torque on their pedals to keep pace with counterparts racing up that same virtual hill from other points on the globe. In this immersive virtual world, everyone engages with the exact same visual imagery and conditions — including the wind resistance they faced during the climb that made pedaling more of a challenge.

Virtual cycling has rapidly gained popularity in the last several years — so much so that the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the world governing body for sports cycling, Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI), intend to feature it as an exhibition sport in the 2024 Paris Olympics. They believe it could become a full-fledged medal event alongside traditional cycling events in the 2028 Los Angeles Summer Games, and they selected a team of Purdue experts to help the sport achieve that eminent status.

But there remains a set of technical challenges they must first overcome, each of which relates to the same key ingredient: competitive fairness, often referred to as a “level playing field.”

Sharing Purdue expertise

“If you don’t have a level playing field, it will never be Olympic,” explains Jan-Anders Mansson, Distinguished Professor of Materials  and Chemical Engineering and executive director of Purdue’s Ray Ewry Sports Engineering Center (RESEC).

That’s where Mansson and his RESEC team have been able to help, collaborating with the IOC and cycling federation to tackle the sport’s engineering and cybersecurity issues so that the virtual competitive environment is both fair and secure.

That means building a secure network architecture able to withstand hackers’ attempts to tamper with competitors’ digital output. It also means putting the various training models on the market through a rigorous testing and certification (or homologation) process, ensuring that the systems perform comparably and meet the criteria necessary for a fair competition.

“In a traditional sport, you are competing in one environment, whether that be on a track, on the road or on a playing field. All of the participants are subject to the same environmental conditions if they’re in the same location,” says Patrick Cavanaugh (BS aeronautical and astronautical engineering ’23), a research engineer at RESEC and competitive triathlete. “However, when we bring the competition to a virtual world, the environment is no longer an objective variable. The environment has to be created by a collection of the sensor data from wherever it’s coming from.

“In this case, it’s coming from the measurement on the trainer units,” Cavanaugh says. “So if there are inaccuracies or unfairness in how that information is measured or transmitted, then you jeopardize the integrity of the competition, which is something that’s very, very unique to these hybrid sports.”

If you don’t have a level playing field, it will never be Olympic.

Jan-Anders Mansson,
executive director of Purdue’s Ray Ewry Sports Engineering Center

And by jeopardizing the competition’s integrity, you risk having it being met with indifference, both from athletes and from a viewing public whose interest is necessary to sustain the sport.

“I would imagine for the audience of the Olympic Games that integrity and fairness are the utmost important properties. Otherwise, what’s the point, right?” asks Dongyan Xu, the Samuel Conte Professor of Computer Science and director of Purdue’s Center for Education and Research in Information Assurance and Security (CERIAS), whose team enthusiastically joined the project at Mansson’s invitation. “If you have a sport where you cannot effectively detect, control, deter and hopefully eliminate e-doping or hacking, then I will lose confidence and interest.”

Luckily, the Boilermaker researchers have already made considerable headway in these efforts by creating the world’s first homologation system for virtual cycling. A RESEC team — including graduate students Teal Dowd, Diana Heflin and Justin Miller, and later Cavanaugh — created a device and methodology to evaluate smart trainer performance, with their system deducing measurement differences between some models.

“We really have to think closely about how this might affect the podium placing for a race one day,” says Dowd (BS mechanical engineering ’18), who is pursuing a PhD in materials engineering. “It makes you want to assure that the work is correct and that our accuracy in saying what trainer is good or bad is very true.”

The stakes are just as clear on the project’s data security side. Xu says the technical issues the CERIAS team faced in virtual cycling are not unusual. However, the unique domain of this particular assignment — elite competitive sports with a global audience — made this a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

“We don’t collaborate or contribute to important causes like the Olympic movement on a regular basis,” Xu says. “My colleagues and I are all excited about this opportunity and honored to contribute.”

Purdue and sports engineering

The virtual cycling project is one of several underway at RESEC, which Purdue established in 2019 as a joint effort between the College of Engineering and Purdue’s Department of Intercollegiate Athletics. Named after Purdue mechanical engineer Ray Ewry, an Olympic gold medalist in the early 20th century, the center focuses on the ever-expanding role that technology plays in sporting endeavors.

Helming the organization is Mansson, who has worked closely with the IOC and International Swimming Federation (World Aquatics, previously known as FINA) for many years in addition to his work in research and development with an America’s Cup sailing team.

Mansson’s worldwide experience with sports technology is so extensive that a crew for a Netflix documentary series, “The Future Of,” visited campus to interview Purdue faculty for an episode on the future of sports innovation.

By prioritizing excitement, integrity and safety in sports, Mansson and the RESEC team believe they can harness Purdue’s unique technical capabilities to make sports more innovative and entertaining and less dangerous.

In 2022 Purdue introduced a one-year professional master’s concentration in sports engineering, making RESEC the only U.S. university sports center with such a graduate degree program. Now Mansson plans to take advantage of Purdue’s growing presence in Indianapolis with its new urban campus there, plus RESEC’s new home in the Indianapolis headquarters of motorsports manufacturer Dallara, to build partnerships that can facilitate noteworthy sports innovation.

“During our initial three years, we managed to establish ourselves on a global level. And now we have to start to build it up in Indianapolis, which is totally exciting,” says Mansson, who is also head of the Manufacturing Design Laboratory (MDLab). “If you look at Indianapolis, it’s a main international stage. We have the (Indianapolis Motor) Speedway; we have the NCAA; we have professional teams and many of the national trials in the U.S. are held in Indianapolis. And Purdue now has a growing infrastructure in Indianapolis. It’s very natural to put an emphasis on our sports center in Indianapolis.”

Reaching new audiences

Of course, successfully shepherding a sport into Olympic competition would also bring attention to the RESEC team’s capabilities. And they appear to be well on their way toward reaching that goal.

“I don’t see that as being too far in the distant future, and that just opens the Olympic Games up to a new generation of people and a bigger audience,” said former Olympic cyclist and Tour de France stage winner Michael Rogers, now innovation manager at the international cycling federation, in a video interview with Purdue Engineering.

For Mansson, the audience engagement opportunity is one of the most exciting aspects of the project. He points out that viewers have never had more entertainment options than they do today, so sport organizers like the IOC must consistently innovate to attract audiences and young people. That’s why digitalization is such an important tool, with broadcasts presenting more and more information from the competition and athletes, in increasingly inventive ways, in an effort to captivate spectators.

This technology can also allow spectators to become competitors themselves.

Mansson pictures an Olympic virtual cycling event where riders may compete from the same physical location, but viewers also may log in from anywhere to test how their riding ability measures up against the world’s best.

I will like to see that event, knowing the work I did played a direct role in the introduction of the sport to more people and that I’ve influenced the outcome of an Olympic champion.

Teal Dowd, RESEC team member and graduate student in materials engineering

“You can imagine 100 athletes on a stage or on a podium competing on the same equipment, and in front of them they have the road and so on coming through the system,” Mansson says. “Then at the same time, you have 3 million people at home competing against them. All of a sudden, you have moved the competition of the Olympics home into the living room with that added dimension of how sport can be part of spreading well-being among people.”

The RESEC team members believe the same homologation standards they developed for virtual cycling can be applied to other virtual events like rowing or running, so we are likely on the verge of a new era of interactivity between viewers and the sports they’re watching.

The technological advances that create such interactivity will also pave the way for new sports to emerge and for new methods of staging competitions to become commonplace.

If all goes according to plan, virtual cycling will be a showcase for the emerging possibilities at the next two Summer Games — and a team of Boilermaker engineers and computer scientists will have helped it get there. “I will like to see that event, knowing the work I did played a direct role in the introduction of the sport to more people and that I’ve influenced the outcome of an Olympic champion,” Dowd says. “Personally, watching that and knowing that I contributed will be extremely rewarding.”

Discover Chrishana and Chrishá’s journey earning their online master’s degrees in health care administration from Purdue Global

Twin sisters Chrishana and Chrishá Jackson do everything together. They both graduated with their bachelor’s degrees in exercise science in 2021, work at the same hospital and even live three minutes apart. 

“We try to separate and then we come right back together,” Chrishá says. 

“The universe just pulls us back together,” Chrishana adds in agreement. 

Their latest endeavor as a dynamic duo: earning their master’s degrees in health care administration from Purdue Global. 

The journey back to school together 

Both Chrishana and Chrishá have been athletes since they were young, and their desire to work in health care extends all the way back to their youth sports days. Only it wasn’t the love for the game but the care they received after being injured that inspired them. 

Chrishana separated her shoulder when she was young and had to undergo physical therapy to recover. “I always liked the feeling I got when I left a physical therapy session. Feeling normal again. Feeling myself. Feeling relief. I could see myself helping people get back to feeling like themselves,” she says. 

After that, she was on a mission to become a physical therapist. 

Chrishá found her passion in a similar fashion.

(The Purdue Global program) has honestly changed my life. 

Chrishana Jackson  MS health care administration ’24, Purdue Global 

“We’re twins, so our story is kind of similar,” she says. Rather than becoming a physical therapist like her sister, Chrishá wanted to be an athletic trainer ever since observing how a trainer tended to an injury she suffered playing basketball. 

“From the time she ran out on the court to come help me, I thought, ‘I love her job; I want to do that,’” she says. “I would love to help other people prevent injury. That’s the athletic trainer’s job.”  

When they entered Saint Peter’s University together to pursue their undergraduate degrees, their plans were set: Chrishana was to become a physical therapist and Chrishá an athletic trainer. But as time passed, their lives went in different directions. 

Chrishá’s life changed when she welcomed her son, Amari, during her sophomore year at Saint Peter’s. “I felt like I was on the right path, but then I got pregnant, I had a baby and I had to change course,” she says. Instead of attending graduate school, she decided to head straight into a career. 

When Amari was 18 months old, he was diagnosed with a speech delay. After graduating in 2021, the same year as Chrishana, Chrishá decided to start working at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City. Outside of her career at the hospital, she had to take Amari to speech and occupational therapy. As money became a larger factor, Chrishá wondered if getting her master’s and becoming an athletic trainer would ease the financial burden somewhat. Little did she know that her sister was discovering the answer. 

At the time Chrishana earned her undergraduate degree in 2021, she was about four months pregnant. “I always wanted to go to graduate school right after graduating. I didn’t want to take a hiatus, but I had to because I was about to have a baby,” she says. 

The physical therapist she interned with as an undergrad told her it would be difficult to pursue physical therapy with a newborn at home. So instead, she pivoted and started working as a patient coordinator at Mount Sinai, the same hospital where her sister was a float pool nurse. “I liked working there and working in health care,” Chrishana says. “So I thought I should go back to school and expand on what I was doing.” She decided to pursue an online degree since she wouldn’t be able to attend in-person classes while caring for a newborn. 

Chrishana came across Purdue Global and filled out the online form to request an information session. As Chrishana was driving home from the beach, she got a call from a Purdue Global advisor, Kim Zajan. “I wasn’t going to answer, but then I realized where the area code was from and thought that might be somebody from the school,” she says. After a long conversation with Kim, she filled out an application that night and got in.  

Chrishana then told Chrishá about the master’s in health care administration program. She explained that they could go back to school together, and since they both had young sons, they could support each other through it all. Since it is an online program, they were able to keep their jobs at the hospital and squeeze in study time after the kids went to bed, when they got a babysitter or during breaks at work. 

“I trusted Chrishana,” Chrishá says, and she’s so thankful she did.

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Life-changing degrees 

The sisters are excited for the opportunities that their master’s degrees present in their careers at the hospital. 

Chrishá floats between departments to provide assistance wherever it is needed. When she worked in neurosurgery, she found herself acting as the administrative assistant to the surgeon. This was her first taste of the administration aspect of health care before going back for her master’s. While in the master’s program, she frequently experienced situations where the curriculum came in handy.  

“I see all the time what I’m learning in school reflected at work. I always think, ‘My professor just went over this.’ If I find myself in certain situations, I know now how I should handle them,” she says.  

She envisions new opportunities because of the degree, and she even has a promotion in the works. “I do want to move up, so hopefully with the degree, I’ll have the position soon. Fingers crossed,” she says. 

Meanwhile, Chrishana’s master’s degree helped her land a position as administration secretary for the transplant department. “Everything I’ve learned during the master’s program helped me transition from patient coordinator to administration secretary,” she says. “The program prepared me and held my hand as I made the transition.” 

In addition to helping the sisters advance in their health care careers, their journey toward completing their master’s degrees taught them a lot about themselves. 

Chrishana faced a big obstacle while attending Purdue Global, becoming pregnant with her second son, Majesty, in the final semester of her master’s program. She juggled commuting from New Jersey to New York for work, taking care of her toddler Pharaoh, and scheduling prenatal appointments after hours or on weekends. After she gave birth, she found it difficult to not use her spare time to catch up on sleep but stayed committed to finishing her assignments. 

“Completing the program brought a lot of things full circle for me,” Chrishana says. “I am very grateful that I have something to show my kids, as they were my biggest motivators and a part of this journey with me.” 

Chrishana notices how the encouragement she received and the skills she’s gained have translated in both her professional and personal life. She learned how to push past her limits, act as a team player and manage her time — skills she uses in her role at the hospital and at home with her two boys. 

Chrishá also noticed a change in herself while completing her master’s degree. She says her self-esteem and confidence increased while encountering stressful situations at school and succeeding. She became more confident at work, in her relationship and with her family. 

“It has a very positive effect on my life overall. When you have good self-esteem, it makes things so much easier and better for you,” Chrishá says. “So thank you to Purdue Global.” 

As their Purdue Global journey comes to a close, Chrishana reflects on the day she pulled over to speak to a Purdue Global advisor while driving home from the beach.  

“I’m really happy I listened to Kim and sat on the phone with her,” says Chrishana, who remains in touch with Kim — the same advisor who helped her navigate school while pregnant with her second son.  

“I told her I really appreciate that she called me that day and convinced me to join the Purdue Global program,” she says. “Because it has honestly changed my life.” 

I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else in the world besides with her (Chrishá) walking across the stage.

Chrishana Jackson
MS health care administration ’24, Purdue Global 

The love and support of family 

The strong bond and passion for health care in the Jackson family goes beyond the twin sisters.  

The twins, their parents and their siblings are all working within the industry to improve others’ lives. While Chrishá and Chrishana work in administration, their mom and their older sister work in home health care. Their younger sister is a phlebotomist, and their dad is an IT engineer and project manager.  

They even have a big family dream. “Eventually, if we could all get along,” Chrishá says, giggling with her sister, “we could run our own practice. Combine all our skills and knowledge.” 

While the whole family supports the twins’ journey, there is one person who stands out. Their father, Chris Jackson, traveled a similar path to that of Chrishana and Chrishá. 

At around the same age that the Jackson sisters had their sons, he became a young parent to Chrishana and Chrishá. And as a young adult, he had the same passion for education, graduating at 25 with his online master’s, the same age as Chrishana and Chrishá when they walked across the stage together to earn their online master’s degrees.

“Our dad has been our biggest supporter. He’s always laid out that guidance for us,” Chrishá says. “He tells us all the time that our biggest supporter will always be him. Nobody is prouder of us than he is. With his guidance and support, Chrishana and I are going to go far. Very far.” 

Ahead of their May graduation ceremony, the sisters were giddy just thinking about checking in to their hotels, getting ready and finally walking across the stage. “Seeing my dad and my family, I don’t know if I’m going to cry or be happy,” says Chrishá, overwhelmed with emotion. 

Even though these aren’t their first degrees, Chrishá recognizes how monumental it is to earn a master’s degree. During her undergraduate graduation ceremony, she had the feeling of “I did it.” But after years of studying while working at the hospital and raising her son, she says a new feeling accompanies her latest graduation.  

“‘I made it.’ I feel like between undergrad and now, I went through a lot, and it feels like I made it,” Chrishá says. “That’s how I want to feel when I walk across that stage.” 

Chrishana echoes those same feelings but is most grateful she has had her sister by her side through it all.  

“That’s my best friend. We do everything together, and I wouldn’t be able to see myself do it without her,” Chrishana says. “I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else in the world besides with her walking across the stage.” 

“We made it,” Chrishá says.

Passionate about addressing the personnel shortage in the tech industry, this professor helps her students make their break.  

I’ve been seeing a lot of fearmongering when it comes to AI — about how it’s going to replace us, how it’s going to perpetuate false information. While it’s important to be mindful of what could go wrong, and while we do need legislation to protect against its misuse, it’s truly exciting to see how it’s going to augment what we can do. That’s why I specialize in AI education and focus my research on how AI can work to our advantage.  

There’s so much AI can do to support us. It can serve as a tutor for students. It can create personalized learning plans. It can help with ideas and drive future research as well. It can give parenting advice. Parents who have kids with developmental delays or disabilities don’t always have access to their speech or occupational therapists — artificial intelligence can help find solutions to problems that come up, or it can even help regulate someone in a sensory crisis. 

And the opportunities for building successful careers in a growing field are endless. There are hundreds of thousands of unfilled jobs in tech. For example, it’s hard for local police to catch cybercriminals because of the anonymity of the internet and crossing jurisdictions. But there’s also a lack of human capital and a lack of knowledge in how these systems work, of figuring out what crime actually took place.  

There’s opportunity in the private sector, too. We need people in governance, risk and compliance (GRC); we need people who know how to secure networks, especially for small- to medium-sized businesses. Often, business owners don’t think they’d have any information an attacker would want, which is untrue. But they lack the resources and staff with the expertise necessary to implement adequate security programs. 

I recently spoke at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) Office of Privacy and promised that with Rhonda Chicone, another Purdue Global cybersecurity expert, we would help address the cybersecurity workforce shortage. 

And addressing that shortage starts with education. Because here’s the caveat: A lot of these jobs require 5-10 years of experience plus certifications, and these certifications also require experience. For instance, the Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) is a certification that requires at least five years of experience. But that experience requirement goes down to three years when you have a master’s degree. So, I encourage people who are trying to find their way into the tech field to start with getting a higher degree and some certifications. 

I try to make myself available to students as much as I can. It’s not just about the course. I also review students’ resumés, connect them to job opportunities, tell them that after the course is finished, I’m here to help with career advice or answer cybersecurity questions. I’m there for them when they need letters of recommendation because I’ve just spent six to 10 weeks deep-diving into their work, talking with them every week. 

It’s important to be mindful of what could go wrong, but it’s truly exciting to see how AI is going to augment what we can do.

Shaila Rana
Professor, Purdue Global 

It’s hard to break into the field, but it’s absolutely possible. I want students to know I’m rooting for them. I want to help keep their spirits up. I want to help them keep their eyes on what they’re trying to accomplish in the long term, because we get granular in class and it’s easy to lose sight of the goal. It makes a difference to remember that the skills they’ve learned in a course can translate to the skills they put on their LinkedIn profile or on their resumé.  

I’m so proud to see them go out into the world and make their contribution for the safety of society. It makes me really happy.

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How professor Josef Vice takes on an anti-LGBTQ+ world and shows that love wins

When you first meet him, right away you’d know Purdue Global professor Josef Vice as a vibrant, warm, kind-hearted and hopeful person with a charming southern accent and a joyful laugh. Digging a little deeper, you’d find an unrelenting resilience — a particular kind that’s unique to the brave humans who defended LGBTQ+ rights during the AIDS crisis of the 1980s.  

It’s been 40 years since then and he’s still working hard to make sure people have the support of a family, whether it’s one they grew up in or one they chose for themselves. In addition to the English and rhetoric classes he teaches, he also serves as a faculty advisor for the Pride Association — one of Purdue Global’s student organizations. 

“I grew up in a time when you were supposed to keep it quiet and hidden. Most of us didn’t have supportive families and we needed each other because of that,” he says. 

He spent years building a community of loved ones and then watched one after another die from AIDS, many of them abandoned by their families in the final stages of their lives. 

“If they didn’t have friends, they had nobody,” he says. “I saw so many of my friends — young, beautiful, talented people, full of potential — waste away and die. Every single one of us knew someone,” he says. 

Despite all he’s been through as an individual and as part of the LGBTQ+ community, Vice radiates optimism and hope, both for himself and those who will follow. 

His story explains why.

The success of my research makes me really, really happy because it means that the LGBTQ+ folks now have a different and better world than I did, and that’s what it’s all about.

Josef Vice
Professor, Purdue Global

Finding a community of his own 

Growing up in a remote farming community in Alabama, Vice says he didn’t know many people like him until he was working on his master’s degree.  

“In graduate school, I started meeting other people and learning I wasn’t the only gay person. There was just no support system whatsoever,” he says. 

And because students who identify with the LGBTQ+ community are more at risk for bullying, homelessness and suicide, that was a gaping hole.  

“All the studies out there tell us if minoritized students join a group like this, they get the kind of psychological and social support they need, and it can impact their ability to do well in school,” he says. “Having a support system reduces the risks that they face.” 

It’s something he wasn’t afforded until he fought hard and sacrificed for it. But knowing he was a part of making the world better for the next generation was a comfort — and it equips him to encourage them when they’re down. 

“I’m there to let the students know that it gets better,” he says. “Things can change. The difference they can make is tremendous. There’s hope for the future because of the progress that has been made and will continue to be made.” 

‘It gets better’ 

What makes Vice’s optimism even more remarkable is the crushing defeat he experienced. In 1987, he’d completed all his PhD requirements except for his dissertation. 

“I proposed writing about the concept of the ‘outsider’ in medieval literature. I was looking at Chaucer’s ‘The Canterbury Tales’ — some characters have less-binary gender and sexual identities — so maybe there was something there,” he says. “I was shot down immediately. It seemed like what I was interested in was not something to write about academically.” 

Combined with recently having been fired from two jobs for being openly gay and slowly losing his friends to AIDS, Vice felt he couldn’t continue with his PhD and walked away at all-but-dissertation status. He remained in that status for 35 years. 

But times changed.  

“Finally, 2 1/2 years ago, I started meeting with a really strong mentor through another doctoral program. We met every other week for two years, and I got my dissertation written,” he says. “That was my comeback. I felt like it was a reclamation of what should have been. I got to reach back 35 years and finish the doctorate I couldn’t finish back then. It energized me. It gave me a real sense that LGBTQ+ issues (are) something that should be written about, researched and embraced by an academic community.” 

For the dissertation, he conducted a study on LGBTQ+ students, specifically looking at how LGBTQ-related legislation impacts their sense of identity and belonging at college — particularly in first-year writing courses. 

“Those two things, identity and belonging, are two markers that indicate whether or not a student will succeed,” he says. 

I’m there to let the students know that it gets better. Things can change. The difference they can make is tremendous.

Josef Vice Professor, Purdue Global

And he continues to push forward with research in the LGBTQ+ space. Currently, he’s engaged in another study with six Purdue Global scholars from across disciplines, having already interviewed many Purdue Global faculty and looking to understand how identity and sexual orientation are relevant in an online environment. And with that information, Vice and his team are seeking to learn how faculty can best support their students. 

“The success of my research makes me really, really happy because it means that the LGBTQ+ folks now have a different and better world than I did, and that’s what it’s all about,” he says. 

Vice encourages students to be patient as they continue advocating for themselves because eventually, they’ll get results. 

“I’ve enjoyed my work more in the last two years, even though I’m doing more work than I ever have, because it’s given me a chance to share my true self in a way that I’ve never been able to,” he says.  

One of the things that gives him the most hope is seeing Purdue Global recognize its LGBTQ+ community members and how it continually makes an effort to learn about them and give them a voice.  

“Students need to know that we support them. Their identities are important to us. We want them to have a sense of belonging and connection with each other because there is a whole community of people who is like-minded. They have a lot of the same goals, the same concerns and worries, and the same hope for the future,” he says.

Global pride 

Now a long way from the farm in Alabama where he grew up, Vice lives on another farm in Georgia with his husband, Rob. They’ve been together 25 years and raised a son, who is now in his early 20s. They have chickens, turkeys, peacocks, dogs and an old farmhouse home, which may be drafty and chilly during the winter, but makes up for it in vibrant personal decor.  

 While he’s built a triumphant life, Vice never forgets what it was like many years ago and invites students — whether they’re sure of their identity or not — to learn more about Purdue Global’s Pride Association. Because, he says, having a solid support system firmly planted at your side can make all the difference. 

“We’re a chosen family of people who know about each other’s graduations, significant others, their upcoming birthdays, how their classes are going, how their jobs are going,” he says.  

And holding the burden for each other is what they do.  

“Being the faculty advisor of this student organization has been really good for me because it reminds me of the fact that despite everything going on around me (things that can sometimes get me down, too), that there are people out there who are still holding the torch. They’re still there, fighting that fight,” he says. 

“Some of us may have survivor’s guilt, but we’re resilient and we’re able to show the next generation that they, too, can overcome. Whatever comes our way, we’re strong. Where there’s discrimination and exclusion, we create. We create humor. We create beauty. And we’re proud of ourselves for that.” 

To learn more about Purdue Global’s student organization, Pride Association, Josef Vice welcomes inquirers to contact him personally at jvice@purdueglobal.edu.

Noah Pumphrey is building his career on a foundation of hands-on learning and practical experiences

Noah Pumphrey, a Purdue cybersecurity student in Indianapolis, has taken a disciplined approach to his education. The result has been a nationally competitive scholarship, a leadership role in cybersecurity and professional certifications before he even graduates.  

“I enrolled at another university right after high school,” Pumphrey says. “But after taking a variety of classes, I still wasn’t quite sure what I wanted to do in the future.” 

Pumphrey pressed pause on his college education and took time off to gain experience. He spent the next four years working full time in the finance industry, which helped him discern his vocation and save money for college. 

“Before transferring to Purdue, I wanted to be really certain of the career I wanted to pursue,” he explains.  

And it became clear to him that cybersecurity was his path. 

A national reputation for excellence 

When Pumphrey was ready to return to college, Purdue in Indianapolis was an easy choice because of the university’s national reputation in cybersecurity. 

“Cybersecurity at Purdue is just different,” Pumphrey says. “It’s the best in the country. I look at my experience and see that they prepare us so well here. You gain fundamental skills that you can actually put to work.” 

The flexibility of the Purdue in Indianapolis program was another important factor in his decision, as he continued to work while taking classes full time.  

He appreciates that the program’s small class sizes have enabled him to form connections with his professors, many of whom are world-class cybersecurity experts. “The professors at Purdue in Indianapolis work hard to set us up for success,” he says. 

Cybersecurity at Purdue is just different. It’s the best in the country. I look at my experience and see that they prepare us so well here.

Noah Pumphrey 
Purdue cybersecurity student in Indianapolis 

National Science Foundation  

Close relationships with professors have also led to incredible opportunities outside of the classroom for Pumphrey, including a National Science Foundation CyberCorps Scholarship for Service (SFS).  

“It’s a full-ride scholarship for those interested in doing cybersecurity for the federal government after graduation,” Pumphrey explains. “And that’s exactly what I want to do.”  

SFS is highly competitive: Only 12 to 16 awards are given out nationally each year. The program provides funds for student scholarships to institutions of higher education, not to students directly. To participate in the program, Purdue in Indianapolis had to provide clearly documented evidence of a strong existing program in cybersecurity.  

“I think it speaks volumes to the kind of faculty we have and the work that we are able to do with them on campus,” Pumphrey says.  

Feng Li, chair of the Department of Computer Information and Graphics Technology, is the primary investigator for the CyberCorps program at Purdue in Indianapolis, and a person with whom Pumphrey works closely.  

“Dr. Li secured funds from the NSF,” Pumphrey says. “And he’s the one responsible for hiring and making sure CyberCorps students are doing what we need to do to get to our full-time and internship positions.” 

The award has made a tremendous difference for Pumphrey, both financially and academically. 

“Since receiving the scholarship, I no longer need outside employment,” he says. “All my time can now be focused on research, academics and certifications.”  

It’s just priceless to be able to put real coding projects on a resume, to tell hiring managers that you have hands-on experience. … You can actually show how you have applied what you’ve learned.

Noah Pumphrey 
Purdue cybersecurity student in Indianapolis 

Hands-on learning, resume building 

Pumphrey starts his academic week with a two-hour Offensive Security class, which teaches him how to use hacking tools. Programming classes in languages including C and MATLAB occupy the bulk of the rest of his schedule.  

“The programming classes are more like engineering classes,” he explains, “but they are also applicable to cybersecurity.” 

The practical nature of what he is learning in class appeals to Pumphrey. He especially appreciates that he is establishing a solid foundation for his future career.  

“I am gaining the fundamental knowledge I need,” he says. “I get to do hands-on things with programming and hacking in the 400-level, and even 300-level, classes that I will be actually doing on the job.” 

As an example, last semester in his Cybersecurity Programming class, Pumphrey used Python to write a program that analyzed a firewall log. A firewall monitors traffic into and out of the environment it was developed to protect; logs provide organizations with information to help investigate after an attack. 

The program Pumphrey wrote parsed a large firewall log. “It would take hours or days for a person to go through that log,” he explains, “whereas I am making it easy to sort through within minutes.” 

Pumphrey put the firewall log program on his GitHub, which was a huge resume builder for him. When he was talking to the federal government about his work, he was able to point them to code he had already written that aligned with projects they are working on.  

“It’s just priceless to be able to put real coding projects on a resume,” Pumphrey says, “to tell hiring managers that you have hands-on experience. You’re not just somebody who has theoretical knowledge stocked up. You can actually show how you have applied what you’ve learned.”

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Cybersecurity club 

The resume building Pumphrey has experienced isn’t limited to the classroom. Cybersecurity students at Purdue in Indianapolis are elevating their knowledge through participation in the cybersecurity club.  

“We have students who really want to go into hacking website applications,” he explains. “There’s not necessarily a specific course for that. Professors will prepare you to do those things, but cybersecurity club is where you will really be able to shine with those skills.” 

Pumphrey is the undergraduate student government senator for the cybersecurity club. The role has opened his eyes to what other clubs and organizations on campus are doing, and helps him see ways in which he can support and promote his own club. 

With many of the cybersecurity club’s officers graduating soon, Pumphrey will be stepping into more of a leadership role. “I’m doing presentations for prospective students or current students that may not know about the club,” he says. “We’re really trying to ramp up our efforts.” 

The club hopes to expand by attending conventions and bringing speakers to campus to talk to students about career opportunities.  

“I am also excited for us to be involved in hands-on cybersecurity activities like Capture the Flag competitions, which are on the attack side, and the National Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition, which is a regional and nationwide competition for the defense side,” he says. 

Pumphrey also is interested in forming connections between cybersecurity clubs on Purdue’s West Lafayette and Indianapolis campuses. “It’s going be an interesting leap for our club,” he says. “I think it’s going to be mutually beneficial. Working together, we can bridge the work we do in our studies and the work we will do in our careers; that is what I’m trying to accomplish with the cybersecurity club.” 

Practical advantages 

In addition to strong academics and extracurricular activities, Pumphrey appreciates the helpful career preparation he has found at Purdue in Indianapolis, especially when it comes to interview skills. He has taken advantage of numerous practice opportunities on campus. 

Another key support has been in resume creation. “Applying for work in the federal government is different,” he explains. “You have to use a federal resume, which can be pages long. Many people, including advisors and staff, have looked over my resume and offered me helpful advice and a second set of eyes.” 

Research alongside world-class cybersecurity experts has been another advantage for Pumphrey.  “I am interested in purple teaming,” he says, “which explores both the attack side (red team) and the defense side (blue team) of cybersecurity.”  

Pumphrey wants to focus on cyber threat intelligence, specifically in a national security setting, which can be hard to do as a college student because the work requires security clearances. Partnering with professors like Li, he is able to gain the knowledge and skills he will need to find threats within a system.  

He also points to the certifications he is earning as a student as a key differentiator. “I have my security-plus certification,” he says. “And I will be working toward the Certified Information Systems Security Professional credential, which is a highly regarded certificate in the cybersecurity domain.” 

Close relationships 

Through classes and the club, Pumphrey has made good friends. And they like to meet at the student center on campus. “Sometimes we’ll just hang out and talk. Sometimes we do homework because we are in a lot of classes together,” he says. “We help each other along the way with the labs and talk about cybersecurity, internships, all the things we’re doing.”  

Pumphrey also has a close relationship with his academic advisor, Kelly Keelan. “I talk to her probably once a week,” he says. “Sometimes I’ll sit in her office for hours and just talk about anything, whether it’s a class, the club or my career.”  

It’s the little things like this that set cybersecurity at Purdue in Indianapolis apart. “The program here is preparing me well for my future,” Pumphrey says.