How leaving his comfort zone helped Blaine Cole discover his passion and inner advocate
Finding your place in the world isn’t always easy. For Blaine Cole the search early on was especially frustrating.
“Growing up I had this desire to be an advocate but I didn’t know what that equated to in the real world,” Blaine says.
He attended community college hoping he would find his passion but had no luck.
“I knew I had to do something more meaningful so I decided to step out of my comfort zone and volunteer for hospice as a bereavement support specialist. At first, I had a hard time adjusting but I became more passionate and things started to fall into place.”
Not long after that, he landed a job as an activities coordinator working with Alzheimer’s patients. Then, to better understand the clinical side, he became a certified nursing assistant and eventually a case manager.
“I knew I had to do something more meaningful so I decided to step out of my comfort zone and volunteer for hospice as a bereavement support specialist. At first, I had a hard time adjusting but I became more passionate and things started to fall into place.”
In those jobs Blaine saw systemic Issues with the delivery of healthcare: lack of funding, poor continuity of care, and limited resources.
Problems most would avoid, but for Blaine, they were golden opportunities to become the advocate he always wanted to be.
Today Blaine is in his zone and says the Master of Health Administration (MHA) is not only helping him discover his inner advocate and his natural abilities, but also find true mentors and countless extracurricular activities to refine his skills.
“I’ve learned I’m a leader,” he says. “I had always seen myself being led, but now I see myself leading and helping people age with dignity and independence.”