For Vanessa Sanchez, going from making lattes at the local coffee shop to a career at Galen College of Nursing’s Houston campus wasn’t her plan. In fact, getting a job in enrollment wasn’t even on her radar, given she was earning her degree in Kinesiology. 

 
While finishing school, a friend and Galen colleague encouraged her to apply for an opening as an Enrollment Admin. This new job quickly became a journey of professional growth she never could’ve predicted. 

“I feel like everything just happened super-fast,” said Sanchez. “I think it’s just the perfect timing for me to be here.” 

Sanchez joined Galen in January 2024, stepping into a position that was new to the campus. She began learning the role alongside the enrollment team, and within her first 90 days, she was promoted to Enrollment Counselor. 

“At that point, it was just a lot of figuring out what this position will do, because it was the first one that we’ve had here on the campus,” she said. “I got the job, and after that, it was just learning and working directly with Mr. TJ, the Enrollment Manager.” 

As Vanessa settled into her role, leaders began recognizing her ability to take on more. Opportunities continued to come her way, eventually leading to her promotion into a senior role earlier this year. 

“I just thought I was doing my job,” Vanessa said. “I didn’t know I was doing the most amazing job ever. I was just like, man, I’m just coming here and trying to do my work. But they believed in me, and they were giving me more opportunities.” 

Those opportunities extended well beyond traditional responsibilities. Early in her time at Galen, Vanessa was trusted to plan the Houston campus grand opening and was given the chance to travel to Dallas to learn from another campus. Later, she was asked to host a Galen virtual town hall, an experience that pushed her well outside her comfort zone. 

“I planned the open house literally the first 30 days that I was here,” said Sanchez. ” I wasn’t expecting to be flying places. Like, prior to this I was working at a coffee shop or in retail, so this was very different for me.” 

With each opportunity, Vanessa gained confidence and developed skills that prepared her for the next step. One of the biggest areas of growth for her was communication. Taking on a larger team, working one-on-one with students and interacting with different leaders challenged her to become more confident in how she communicated. 

“Being able to master how to communicate with people, learning how to navigate meeting with students one-on-one… I felt like I was a pro. Like, I know this stuff,” she said.  

For Vanessa, that development would not have happened without leaders who were willing to see potential in her before she saw it herself. She specifically credits Dr. Alexander, Regional Director of Enrollment, with giving her opportunities to showcase what she could do. 

“The biggest person I want to say thank you to would be Dr. A,” Vanessa said. “She’s the one that was able to give me these opportunities to showcase what I’m doing.” 

That willingness to invest in employees is what Vanessa believes makes internal growth opportunities so meaningful. Being recognized for hard work can give employees confidence that their contributions matter and motivate them to continue pushing themselves. 

“It makes people feel seen,” she said. “It gives them that recognition that you’re actually doing a good job.” 

Vanessa has now watched that same culture play out across her enrollment team, where multiple colleagues have advanced into new roles. She sees their collective growth as one of her proudest moments at Galen. 

“Although I know it was individual promotions, I definitely do feel like we were able to contribute to them,” she said. “We made these people look good. We worked hard for these people. We just overall made the team look really, really good.” 

Vanessa’s journey is a reflection of what can happen when an organization invests in the people already within its walls. At Galen, her story shows how a first opportunity can become a career path when employees are trusted, supported, and given room to grow. 

Ready to take the next step in your career? Explore opportunities at Galen College of Nursing and discover a workplace where your talents can grow.