When Wyoming horse wrangler Laura Grage decided she needed a little more excitement, she lit out for Alaska. She liked the outdoor adventures but not the precarious nature of seasonal work, so to develop some marketable skills, she took a summer English class from UAF. Now she's working on a nursing degree at UAF through a cooperative program with UAA.

Grage is also a tutor with UAF's Student Support Services, an office that helped her adjust to university life. Since she was older than the typical freshman when she started taking classes, she felt out of her element the first few months.

"SSS has seen me go from pretty clueless to being able to help other students who might drop out if they don't get the help," Grage says.

She's been so successful, in fact, that she won an award for academic excellence and perseverance in overcoming barriers and accomplishing her educational goals. Her next goals are professional ones, after she gets her degree in late 2008.

"I decided on nursing because it was a field that needed workers, so I knew I could support myself, and I had friends in the program who were saying good things about it. I got very enthusiastic about it.

"Hopefully nursing will guide me into more adventures, like Alaska did."