Connor Rutherford wears many hats and, at Moraine Valley, holds many titles: alumnus, returning student and current enrollee.
While in the Illinois Army National Guard, Connor was a combat medic and now is an officer. He’s been a pretrial probation officer, an emergency room technician, worked with patients on a designated COVID floor and is a certified Emergency Medical Technician (EMT). Now enrolled in Moraine Valley’s Nursing Program, Connor hopes to pursue a job in a hospital emergency room with the goal of applying to the United States Air Force Flight Nursing program.
This isn’t his first time at Moraine Valley. He completed the EMT program in 2014, then took some pre-requisites for Nursing and attended classes while working on his bachelor’s degree from Western Illinois University. “I’ve been going to Moraine Valley for almost the last decade. I know this this school like the back of my hand,” Connor said.
With years of firsthand experience at Moraine Valley, Connor didn’t think twice about returning — again.
“Moraine Valley is perfect for me, especially with me living only seven minutes away. There are a lot of good programs out there, but Moraine Valley’s Nursing Program is renowned as one of the better programs in the in area,” he shared.
He’s also grateful for the assistance he has received from the college’s Veterans Resource Center. “It can be confusing trying to navigate things on your own,” Connor said. “I go to the Veterans Resource Center for pretty much anything I have questions on concerning my GI Bill. Moraine Valley does an incredible job sitting down with veteran students, letting them know what the next steps are for what they need to do, and then pretty much telling them not to worry because they’ll take care of everything else; and they do.”
