Across health care, public safety and technology, ODU students explain why they transferred—credit mobility, flexible courses and clear paths to completion—and how those decisions shaped the next step in their lives.
During National Transfer Week, we’re celebrating the momentum that transfer students bring to ODUGlobal and the ways our flexible, online pathways help them finish what they started.
In the stories below, you’ll meet transfer Monarchs who balanced work, service, and family while advancing in fields ranging from healthcare to public safety and education. They're early completers, mid-career professionals and military-affiliated students. Some overcame setbacks; others accelerated timelines through distance learning and credit transfer. Together, their experiences offer a grounded look at how online education helps students persist, graduate and step into what’s next.
At 17, She’s Set to Graduate from ODU and Launch Her Nursing Career
At 17, Baylee Slagle '25 became ODU’s youngest graduate in the 2024-25 school year, earning her RN to BSN degree while volunteering as an EMT and overcoming a rare neurological condition.
Driven and highly capable, Slagle earned nearly 60 college credits in high school through her local community college. She completed her first associate degree just months after graduating high school and is on track to receive her associate degree in nursing from Mountain Gateway Community College, concurrently with her bachelor’s degree from ODU.
“I started acclimating to school and work slowly and built up to where I could do both,” she said. “Online school has provided the flexibility and balance I’ve needed to pull it off.”
Read more about Slagle's journey
One Student’s Personal Mission Evolved into Advocacy for Equitable Healthcare
Motivated by a family member's struggle to access equitable healthcare, ODU graduate Athena Jones '24 advocates for home care workers and underserved populations.
Jones found her way back to college, attending Tidewater Community College, where she received an associate degree in social sciences. Shortly after, she enrolled at ODU, and capitalized on the online program's versatility to continue her work while getting her degree.
"When I got to ODU, there were all these systems in place to say, 'If you want to succeed, let’s figure out how to make that happen,’” Jones said. "I cannot count how many times I asked a professor to have a conversation after class. They have never said no. Everyone at ODU has always been available.”
Read more about Jones' journey
Degrees of Service
David Tankersley's ’24 path started in college at Tidewater Community College in the late ’90s, but he paused his education when life got in the way. He was hired by the Virginia Beach Police Department without a degree and moved through the ranks on the strength of experience and training. But promotion required a return to the classroom. Eventually, he returned to TCC, then enrolled at ODU where he ultimately graduated at the top of the criminal justice class.
Read more about Tankersley's journey
A Second Chance, a New Mission: How One Student Is Using AI to Protect Others
At 16, Joshua Castillo became a father and left school. Now 29, he's earning his computer science degree through ODUGlobal and building AI tools to protect missing children.
Through reflection, support from his mentors and his faith, Castillo said he felt a pull towards using education and a computer science degree to help victims of human trafficking.
“I felt a deep calling to use technology to help find missing children,” he said.
Read more about Castillo's journey
