Special to NKyTribune
Independence resident Dr. Nelson Soto and his wife Ana reached out to United States Marine Corps Veteran Mitchell Rivas and his family during the illness of one of Rivas’s 1-year-old twin daughters, Maryssa.
Maryssa Rivas has a rare condition, a complicated one involving the transposition of the greater arteries with systematic hyperplastic left heart syndrome issues. The illness brought the Rivas family to Cincinnati Children’s Hospital from their hometown of Cleveland, Ohio. They knew no one in Cincinnati and the family needed to stay with their daughter for over a month while she underwent lifesaving heart surgery.
The family needed a refuge, encouragement, and a friend.
In stepped Independence resident Dr. Nelson Soto, Union Institute & University Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs.
Rivas explains, “Our church House of Praise International in Lorain, Ohio posted our story among the congregation and it reached a friend of a friend in Cincinnati. After a four-hour ambulance ride, Nelson was the first person to welcome me to Cincinnati.
“Nelson and Ana opened their home to us and our four children. Not only were we able to stay with them, but we found that we shared a strong faith in God. As our friendship blossomed, we began to share our life stories with each other.
“I explained that I had attended a community college after being discharged from the United States Marine Corps, but didn’t like college and really didn’t see the need for a college degree. I told him I had a good job with the postal service and didn’t see how a degree would benefit me.”
What Rivas underestimated is that Dr. Soto – someone who has dedicated his life to improving access to higher education – would open more doors and lead to new pathways.
Dr. Soto knew Union Institute & University was the place for Mitch.
“I told Mitch he was the ideal Union student. Veterans, by the very nature of their training, have acquired leadership and organizational skills, and also discipline,” he said. “A college degree is the most outward-facing seal of quality that an individual can demonstrate. A college degree is recognized throughout the world. I knew that Mitch would be successful, but also, our flexible model would allow time to deal with the issues he was facing with his young daughter.”
Dr. Soto encouraged Riva to try college one more time.
“Nelson encouraged me to try college once more – at Union. This time, it worked. Folks in every office and department have helped me. Union has held my hand through the enrollment process. Union’s Registrar Lew Rita Moore worked with me to expand my VA benefits. She and her staff orchestrated the process of getting my previous college credits transferred from the community college I attended in 2004-2005, along with the credits I earned with The Marine Corps Institute while I was on active duty.”
Now, Rivas is a full-time student. “I believe my bachelor’s degree in Leadership will help me advance my career in the United States Postal Service, where I currently work. Thanks to Union I am able to keep my full-time employment and, support my family, all the while completing my college degree,” said Rivas.
Union Institute & University is a military friendly school explains Registrar Lew Rita Moore.
“It is a great honor to guide veterans as they embark on a civilian career,” said Moore. “Union Institute & University is proud to welcome America’s veterans, active duty military, National Guard, reserves and their dependents into our academic programs. It allows us to pay them back for their service by providing easy access and flexible programs. All of Union’s programs are designed to allow adults, and particularly, veterans and military personnel, to maintain their busy schedules and commitments while completing their degrees.”
In addition, Union is a partner in the Yellow Ribbon GI Education Enhancement Program, a provision of the Post-9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Act of 2008. This program allows institutions of higher learning to work with VA to fund tuition expenses that exceed either the annual maximum cap for private institutions or the resident tuition and fees for a public institution. The institution can contribute up to 50 percent of those expenses and VA will match the same amount as the institution. Only veterans entitled to the maximum benefit rate, as determined by service requirements, or their designated transferees may receive this funding.
“The Yellow Ribbon Program allows Union to work with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to fund tuition costs above the annual cap mandated by Congress for the 2014-2015 academic year. The partnership allows Union’s program tuition and fees to be matched by the VA. The result is that our eligible military and veterans can earn their degree without any debt or financial obligations. In many cases, it also allows for the benefit to be transferrable to a spouse or dependents,” said Moore.
Union Institute & University’s programs are designed for busy adults to not only acquire knowledge, but also to relate knowledge to actual practice, as Rivas quickly found out in his classes.
“In my first semester Dr. Rick Chaffee has already taught me that the leadership degree that I earn at Union will be a direct reflection of the obstacles that I have faced in life. After having faced an abusive childhood, my aunt and uncle raised me in a Christian home. As a teenager, my best friend’s father took me in as a son. Harry Brownfield Jr. was a successful Christian businessman, a former Marine, a great father, and a needed mentor. He told me about his time in the Marine Corps, and I knew it was for me,” said Rivas.
But circumstances beyond his control would limit his time in the Marine Corps.
“I loved my career in the Marine Corps, but due to a medical issue, a re-enlistment was not approved. It was a disheartening blow that I couldn’t stay in the Corps.”
As it happens, now that Rivas is not enlisted, he can spend more time with his studies and with his children, particularly Maryssa. Her complex heart disease causes apprehension, but as with everything in Mitch’s life, he takes this in stride, and tempers his fear with hope.
“Maryssa had a very uncommon disease. The diagnosis is complex, but we have faith. She has successfully come through a two-part operation and faces a final cardiac procedure in 2016.” said Rivas. “We met one nurse in the Cardio ICU at Children’s Hospital who had had the same condition as Maryssa. This nurse is a living testimony that our baby can grow into a functioning adult,” he said.
Cincinnati Children’s will continue to monitor and follow Maryssa into her adult life.
Thanks to friends and great medical care, Rivas says, “I have never lost faith and I never will.”
From Union Institute & University