Alumni Profile: Judy Fine, Kodiak College, A.A.S. Nursing '02, B.S. Nursing '05

UAA alumna Judy Fine and her family traded marlin for sockeye salmon when they moved from Fort Myers, Florida to Kodiak Island.

Living in southern Florida, Judy, her husband Ed and their daughter Melissa, spent their free time fishing, lobstering and scuba diving in the warm, tropical waters off the Florida Keys. But a family vacation to Kodiak to fish and visit a friend turned into an annual occurrence, and they were hooked.

After Ed retired, they bought a house in Kodiak. Ed and Melissa moved north in 1997, while Judy stayed in Florida for an additional two years until she retired from her job as a commercial insurance adjustor.

"When I moved to Kodiak, I was no longer known for the career that I had for 22 years," said Judy. She thought, What on earth am I going to do with myself? Then she came across an ad in the local newspaper for a new RN distance education program offered by the UAA School of Nursing at Kodiak College. She immediately put her name on the list and was one of eight lucky students selected to be a part of the College's first nursing cohort.

Judy always thought she'd like to become a nurse, but said that nurses didn't make much money in the '80s when she was choosing a career path. She holds an associate degree in zoology and a bachelor's degree in biology and secondary education science from the University of Central Florida. She spent a short time teaching before venturing into a career in insurance.

While earning her first two college degrees, Judy worked in a hospital, so choosing a second career in health care wasn't a stretch for her. Her inspiration to pursue nursing stemmed from her father's heart problems. He went through several heart attacks and surgeries, and Judy made sure she was always by his side.

Embarking on her third and fourth college degrees as a retired professional wasn't easy for Judy, but she did what she had to do to reach her goal of becoming a nurse. "It was the hardest education that I've ever experienced in my life," she said. "The instructors were tough; their expectations of us were high and they made sure we performed."

She explained that the UAA nursing program's distance delivery model was a perfect fit for her. "Distance education has opened up so many opportunities for me that I would've never had," she said. "The support was phenomenal. I can't speak highly enough of the faculty. UAA just really made the ability to excel so easy if you decided you wanted to put in the effort."

Judy and the other members of her cohort got to be very close. "You're tethered to these people," she said. Because of her group's hard work, the Kodiak Outreach Site program continued and the UAA School of Nursing now offers classes at 11 distance sites across Alaska, ranging from Kotzebue to Ketchikan. The Kodiak Outreach Site accepts eight students every other year.

Judy earned her Associate of Applied Science in Nursing in 2002 and continued on to complete her Bachelor of Science in Nursing in 2005. She now works as the assistant administrator for Long Term Care at Providence Kodiak Island Medical Center. She oversees the Care Center, a 19-bed facility that provides long-term care for patients who are unable to live independently for several reasons, ranging from recovery from a fractured hip to severe brain damage from a stroke.

A proud alumna, Judy is not a stranger to the School of Nursing. She stays connected by serving as a guest speaker in the classroom and welcomes nursing students into the Care Center for their clinical experience.

"The people who are living in Kodiak are actually being taken care of by Kodiak nurses that have gone through the program here," Judy said. "I think that is something that you can't put a price on. We have neighbors taking care of neighbors, and I think that means a lot. It gives the patients a feeling of, 'I know this person taking care of me, and I feel comfortable with this person taking care of me.'"

Fishing continues to be a major part of Judy and Ed's life. They own and operate a fishing charter, Sea Otter Charters, and a Bed & Breakfast in Kodiak. Melissa, who's also taking advantage of distance education from Kodiak, will complete her Master of Education in Educational Leadership from UAA this fall.