From Excursions to Education

Published: August 07, 2015

Jeff and Janelle Cater are giving the title, “Power Couple” new meaning. Married for seven years, they are focused on making significant change in the world – together. They completed their Bachelors of Nursing in spring 2015 after working and attending classes full time at UW Bothell.

The Caters’ journey to UW Bothell’s School of Nursing and Health Studies was filled with travel and service. With a passion to learn more about the world, they embarked on a journey that took them to Australia, Hong Kong, China, India, Jordan and England. “We both had a heart to help and serve others” Janelle explains, “We decided when we got back from our travels we wanted to go to school and become nurses.”

After completing a two-year pre-nursing program, the Caters enrolled at UW Bothell, seeking the leading-edge academic experience and the highly qualified professors in the classroom. They quickly realized that, like all UW Bothell students, they’d become contributors to the learning experience. With an extensive view of the world and a heart for serving the local and global community, the Caters offered new perspectives and understanding to their class discussions and collaborative projects. Jeff says the education certainly went both ways and beyond classroom walls. Through courses like Women’s Global Health and Human Rights and Critical Disabilities Studies, the Caters extended their international knowledge to their local community by becoming engaged in service projects. “As a man, getting out into my community and serving those around me gave me so much satisfaction and joy,” he says. “It’s easy to see the big picture, but getting into the community helped me see some of the smaller details.”.

Currently, Jeff is working full time at Skagit Valley Hospital in Mount Vernon as a registered nurse, while Janelle works full time as a registered nurse at Providence Regional Medical Center in Everett. The Caters aren’t stopping though. They plan to obtain their master’s degrees and continue to grow professionally while giving back on medical missions abroad where it all began. “UW Bothell assisted in opening our educational, cultural, and social mindset not just in medicine, but in everyday life.” Janelle explains. “Things like considering equality in all aspects of life, learning how to care for people from all walks of life, and having the critical thinking skills to test the waters, go outside the box, be innovative and different – these are all areas in which we grew and learned because of UW Bothell!”