Chase Nixon

Chase Nixon is a junior sports management major with a minor in business from Gastonia, N.C. Nixon is president of the Black Student Union, a Student Government Association member, a football player and a resident hall director.

How do you believe Averett will help you with your degree?

“I believe Averett will help me get my degree in sports management by preparing me for life after college and directing me toward the right career path. The department is nice and the professors are there for you as well. Some of the coaches have their degree in sports management so they are there to help you along the way, especially when it comes to your classes.”

What do you like best about the University?

“The thing I like best about Averett is definitely the family environment, such as the ‘One Averett, One Team, One Family,’ environment. Another thing I like about Averett are the class sizes. You get to know your professors on a personal level, therefore they are there if you need them.”

Why did you choose your path of study?

“I chose to study sports management because I play sports and I always wanted to be around sports even if I’m not playing at the higher level. Sports have helped shaped me to be who I am today.”

Cameryn Carelock

Cameryn Carelock is a senior majoring in biomedical sciences and double minoring in English and African/African American studies. Carelock is a resident hall director, president of the Resident Hall Association and a member of LOVE Danville.

How do you believe Averett will help you with your degree?

I’ve definitely had some amazing professors that have helped me in numerous ways. My professors, even my academic advisor, I feel like I could email them with any question and I would get a quick, responsive reply back. They are willing to help any way they can.

What do you like best about the University?

Definitely the family feel. The people I met here, and the whole RA staff, they’re like a family to me. The relationships I have built here are lifetime friendships.

Why did you choose your path of study?

Even when I was little, my mom has worked in the medical field. My aunt works in the medical field in a profession I want to pursue. Science fairs were my favorite in school, in addition to science class. They propelled me forward and encouraged me to do something with my life and career.

Jon Stephens

Jon Stephens is a senior double majoring in music performance and religion from Danville. Stephens is involved in Christian Student Fellowship, a student ambassador, a resident assistant, orientation leader and member of the Averett University Cougar Band.

How do you believe Averett will help you with your degree?

In the long run, I want to teach music. Averett has allowed me to have special courses to study areas I need for the future. They will not only help me with my future career, but Averett has helped me gain leadership skills I will need in my career and in graduate school. What I have learned here will help with whatever lies beyond graduation.

What do you like best about the University?

I like that it’s in my hometown, which means I didn’t have to learn an entirely new space. I also like that it’s a small campus environment where to me, that has allowed me to gain more friendships and relationships with professors that I may not have gotten from a large campus environment.

Why did you choose your path of study?

Ever since my senior year of high school, I’ve known I wanted to be involved in music in some way. Having great mentors in high school and college, I knew I wanted to be in music education. I never saw myself being a religion major, but it has helped me to learn more about spirituality, and it has helped me grow as a person. It was for me a smart decision to double major.

Adrian Earle

Adrian Earle is a senior aerospace management: flight operations major with three minors in religion, economics and business administration from Houston. Earle is the Student Government Association junior class vice president, president assistant for Black Student Union and a football team captain He is also involved in Christian Student Fellowship and the Entrepreneurship and Innovation Club, is a member of the Averett Diversity, Inclusion and Equity Taskforce, and is a student ambassador and resident assistant.

How do you believe Averett will help you with your degree?

“Averett can help me with my degree first by preparing me to be a professional in the workforce. Professionalism is one of the major keystones here at Averett. The Student Success Center helps in a major way with a variety of tutors that are readily available and always ready to help. I know in my aviation experiences so far, Averett’s flight instructors as well as Averett’s Chief Flight Instructor Travis Williams have been helpful. I believe here at Averett, they’re not only trying to push you into a degree, but they’re also molding you and developing you toward your career.”

What do you like best about the University?

“The wide variety of opportunities Averett has to participate in and be a part of are great, from work studies to community engagement within the Danville region, as well as the wide variety of majors and paths you can choose from and Averett’s support system helping you every step of the way.”

Why did you choose your path of study?

“I chose my career path in aviation at a very young age. I was exposed to air travel when I was six years old and was in love with it from that point on. I knew by my junior year in high school that I wanted to make a career out of my passion for air travel. Finding Averett was a huge bonus for me because I am now able to have all my passions in one place, playing the sport I love – football – while getting my degree in aviation, while also being part of various clubs and organizations on campus.”

Cheyenne Espinosa

Cheyenne Espinosa is a senior sports medicine major from Corona, Cal. Espinosa is an Averett Bonner Leader, a member of the Averett Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Task Force, part of the Student Engagement Team, on the appellate board and is a sports medicine representative, who helps explain to incoming freshmen who the sports medicine program is.

How do you believe Averett will help you with your degree?

“I think Averett will help me with my degree by supplying me with the resources and skills that I need for my career. Specifically, being a sports medicine major with the hopes of going to graduate school, I not only need hands-on information from the classroom, but also need people skills. Averett has done more than enough to prepare me with those skills.”

What do you like best about the University?

“The family atmosphere is what I like best. Being so far from home was one of the deal breakers I had when I was considering colleges. Could it be a home away from home? Averett was the only school that made me feel like I could be a part of a family.”

Why did you choose your path of study?

“I’ve grown up in a sports-oriented and very science-oriented family. I have a passion for helping people and sports medicine allows me to do all of that. Averett’s sports management program is one of the best I’ve ever seen.”

Sarah Shropshire

Sarah Shropshire is a junior communications major with a minor in coaching from Wilmington, N.C. Shropshire is an undergraduate hall director, captain of the women’s volleyball team and an Averett Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) representative.

How do you believe Averett will help you with your degree?

“I think Averett will help me with my degree based on the connections Averett can provide me whether that’s through the communications program, alumni or through the athletics program.”

What do you like best about the University?

“I like the close community and culture. Based off the size, it’s easy to build one-on-one relationships with professors, peers and coaches. I feel attending a smaller university has helped me develop more because of the opportunities that a small campus provides.”

Why did you choose your path of study?

“I chose my path because I wasn’t sure at first what I wanted to do and was interested in a few aspects of communications, so I decided to give it a try. I love communicating and working with others so I wanted to grow in certain areas in my field so I could make a career out of that. I love volleyball, and plan to get my MBA being a graduate assistant at the collegiate level after graduation.”

Rebecca Squier

Rebecca Squier is a graduate student from Danville, currently working at Moses Cone Emergency Room as a registered nurse. Squier is a 2020 Bachelor of Science in nursing alumna, and expects to graduate in 2023 with a Master of Science in nursing degree as a family nurse practitioner and emergency nurse practitioner.

What is an average day like for you in your graduate program?

“I spend about three hours reading and studying, two hours on discussion boards and miscellaneous course work; then it’s whatever quizzes or papers need completing. I’ll have at least two full days of schoolwork to do at my house each week. Sometimes, I have reading in addition to my two dedicated study days.”

Why did you decide to continue your education at Averett?

“Averett has been an inclusive place to be. I have always felt like my cohort was my family, and I wanted to continue that as I continued my education. I have enjoyed associating with the nurses and staff at Averett. They are all phenomenal, and they help you figure out how to navigate through your courses. The staff will schedule and locate your clinical, which took a huge burden off my shoulders.”

How do you believe Averett will help you with your degree?

“The staff is very helpful with any concern I have, and they will try to accommodate me no matter how big or small the question. The courses are laid out two at a time in seven-week blocks, and it makes it easier when you work full time.”

What do you like best about the University?

“I most enjoy the family atmosphere. The ‘one team, one Averett’ slogan really does ring true. It’s a private school on a small campus, and you can definitely feel that. You can feel the personalization in all of your classes, even at the graduate level. I feel connected with my instructors and the various staff at Averett. I feel like I can see everyone as a person, even at a professional level.”

Why did you choose your path of study?

“My interest in the medical field started when my mom was going through cancer treatments when I was 10 years old. No one ever babysat me, and so I would have to go with her to Duke for her treatment. I asked everyone I could at the hospital what they were doing. In my mind, they were the heroes saving my mom’s life. I wanted to be a neurosurgeon at 10. After I figured out I would never have a life outside of school, I decided to be a doctor. While at Tunstall High School, I completed my EMT courses. As I got more into EMS work, I felt like nursing was more for me. Being a nurse practitioner was somewhere in the middle of the nursing field, and that fills my nurse heart. It’s the dream I didn’t know I had since I was 10 years old.”