"June 2, 2006 was the day my life changed forever," said UNH Graduate Student Constanza Valdés. "I remember standing in front of the immigration officer understanding very little of what he said."

Imagine a management position where you spend part of your days tooling around on a two-wheeled Segway, cruising through a major metropolitan city while pointing out interesting architectural and historical details to a group of mesmerized tourists. Now, imagine you are a history major, with a Bachelor’s degree from UNH Manchester, and you’re doing all this in Washington, D.C., the ultimate mecca for history buffs.

Molly Miller and Kellie Howard, students in the biological sciences program, traveled to Honduras in February 2012 to volunteer with a medical clinic.

David Atkinson enrolled in college after graduating from Malden High School in 1986 and quickly learned it wasn’t for him, not yet anyway. He took a union job in Boston’s freight industry where he worked for the next 20 years. During that time he took several evening courses at three colleges trying to find his niche and a place where he felt comfortable. He also spent a lot time with his grandfather, a WWII veteran, who had suffered severe post traumatic stress.

A 7:00 a.m. breakfast followed by eight to ten hours in the woods tracking animals is a great day for Jessica Landry, sophomore in the biological sciences program. This was a typical morning for her during her four-week summer course at The Coe College Wilderness Field Station in Ely, Minnesota in 2011. The course was called Boreal Mammology and was taught by UNH Manchester’s Professor Stephen Pugh.

“On a scale of one to ten, I’d give her a negative seven,” says Bill, a resident at Pearl Manor in Manchester. “I’m just kidding. She’s great! You owe me one Kathy,” he adds with a wink and a smile. Many of the residents would agree with Bill, Katherine Wooff has become a welcome face at Pearl Manor’s activity nights.

"The military changed me. It gave me a lot of discipline. I’m very organized and good with my time management," says Ryan Pitts, a student at UNH Manchester

If anyone wonders how hard you need to work to achieve your dreams, ask University of New Hampshire at Manchester Sophomore Melony Tomlinson. Tomlinson, who is originally from Jamaica, not only maintains a full-time academic schedule, she also works three jobs to help everything come together and stay on track.

Can attending the University of New Hampshire at Manchester win you a trip to Las Vegas? Not likely, however hard work and talented engineering skills can bring you to Las Vegas to attend an American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) Conference.

Many people are drawn to medical science careers for a variety of reasons; perhaps some through a personal connection and others by a desire to give back by helping others. Fortunately for University of New Hampshire at Manchester students, opportunities to reach for such noble professions are available.