New program helps student ACHIEVE his goals
WILMORE, KY— By day, Ben Zambrano, 46, manages equipment projects at Toyota in Georgetown. He also works with the company’s suppliers, often traveling to different Toyota plants in North America and Japan. By night, he’s finishing his bachelor of science degree in management and ethics through Asbury College’s ACHIEVE program.
Zambrano chose ACHIEVE because it is an accelerated evening program. With classes one night per week starting at 6 p.m., the program allows working adults to continue their jobs and regular daily activities while attending college.
“The ACHIEVE Program helps me personally by getting closer to Christ Jesus. It makes me realize how important my family is and allows me focus on them from day-to-day,” he said.
Zambrano completed elementary and high school in Okinawa, Japan where his father worked for the Department of Defense. He later finished community college in Florida and technical college in Ohio. However, he always had a goal of finishing his bachelor’s degree. He said, “I always wanted to go back to school to accomplish one of my goals—to finish what I had started. I’m confident that God will open more doors for me to do service for Him.”
Zambrano and his wife, JoDell, are the parents of three sons, Jesse, 19, J.T.,10, and Curtis, 8. “It is great to be back in school. It can be challenging at times with my travel schedule, but my family is very supportive. I have a great wife who takes care of our kids while I’m away and also my mother-in-law who lives with us. I’m blessed to have a loving family. God is good.”
Having attending a Christian school in Japan, Zambrano says he most enjoys, “caring professors and the Christian atmosphere of learning with my fellow adults students who are serious about getting their degree.”
To attend the ACHIEVE program, students must be 25 years or older and have approximately 50 hours of previous college credit. All students begin and complete their degrees with the same group of classmates in just two years. Beginning it’s second year, the program has more than 40 students currently enrolled.
Zambrano hopes to complete his degree by fall 2009.
For more information at ACHIEVE, visit http://www.asbury.edu/achieve.
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