Edwin Sanchez was laid off from his job as a field tech at Verizon in 2002. Because of the layoff, he was forced to uproot his life in New York and move to Pennsylvania. That’s when he decided to earn his Associate’s degree—as an insurance policy. He found out about the NACTEL program at Pace University through his relationship with CWA, his local union.

“I had all these credits from different universities, and I decided it was time to get my degree,” Edwin explained. “Now if my contract ends, it’s okay because I have that degree and a better chance of keeping my wife and kids in one place.”

He attributes much of his success to the support of Kim, his wife of 14 years. She carried a lot of the brunt of raising their three children-Edwin, Jalen, and Makaela-while he worked on his assignments.

“That’s my rock,” said Edwin. “I needed a quiet spot to do my school work, and that’s almost impossible with just one kid. But she’d give me a couple hours to do my reading and such.”

“She didn’t come at me all the time with a ‘honey do’ list,” he chuckled. “She was real patient.”

What Edwin liked best about the NACTEL program was how convenient it was. He commutes to New York from Pennsylvania now for his work at Verizon, so having the freedom from a regular brick and mortar school was very important. He also was pleased with how responsive and understanding the professors and advisors were.

“They know we’re grown adults and have lives outside of school,” he said. “You know, that we’re not living in mom and dad’s basement anymore!”

Edwin plans to continue with Pace to earn his B.S. in Telecommunications. “I know the routine, so why change a good thing?” he said.

He encourages others considering going into the NACTEL program to do it for themselves and no one else. He said when he was previously going to the traditional college, he was doing it for others. “Now I’m doing it for me,” he said.

Once he gets his ducks in a row, Edwin plans to look into moving into a different position, and maybe go into management. With his two degrees in telecommunications, he knows there will be more jobs available to him.