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It took three years, a move from California to Ohio, and several other bumps in the road. Still, recent ������ graduate Vincent AhSam-Kreiter has achieved his goals of earning a bachelor’s degree, becoming a registered nurse and being a newly commissioned officer in the U.S. Air Force.

AhSam-Kreiter, 33, a native of El Sobrante, California, graduated from the College of Nursing on Aug. 10, passed his state nursing board licensing exam on Aug. 27, and received his commission as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Air Force during a formal ceremony on Sept. 20, when Kent State Today was there to capture the moment.

Soon, he will begin his first official assignment as an operating room nurse at the 60th Medical Group, David Grant Medical Center at Travis Air Force Base outside of Sacramento, California.  

“I’m very thankful to have all the family and support and friends to get me through nursing school and now be a second lieutenant in the United States Air Force as a nurse,” AhSam-Kreiter said following the commissioning ceremony.

Kent State offers nationally recognized student support and has been named a Military Friendly School for 15 consecutive years.

Speaking during the ceremony held at the MACC Annex, Maj. Andin Fisher, operations manager for Air Force Detachment 360, noted that of 320,000 active-duty Air Force members, only 64,000 are officers and only 4,000 of those officers are nurses.

“Reaching this achievement was not by chance, nor was it on your own,” Fisher said. “Your dedication to this goal and the sacrifices you have made along the way were equally met, if not surpassed by the dedication, sacrifice and love of those around you.”

Janet Reed, Ph.D., associate professor of nursing, who taught AhSam-Kreiter for two courses, attended the commissioning ceremony and praised his skill. “He was so engaged and is very enthusiastic,” she said.

Transfer student

AhSam-Kreiter arrived at Kent State as a transfer student in August 2023, although he had already spent two years in Kent State’s Air Force ROTC program.

He joined Kent State's ROTC program through its crosstown affiliation, as he was attending nearby Hiram College, which does not offer the military training program. AhSam-Kreiter eventually transferred to Kent State for its highly acclaimed College of Nursing.

“Transitioning to Kent, I noticed a significant difference in the way that they taught nursing. I felt like I learned significantly better,” he said. “The professors cared a lot. They offered their resources, their open office hours, anything to support their students. And so, I took advantage of that and have made a lot of colleagues who are in the nursing faculty.”

Coming from a smaller college with much of his studies behind him, AhSam-Kreiter was afraid he would be an outsider and not make friends at Kent State. That notion was quickly put to rest.

“The first clinical group I was assigned to, I really felt welcomed, learning the new faces and making new friends,” he said.

AhSam-Kreiter graduated on Aug. 10, with his bachelor's degree in nursing, and that same month took his proctored exam to qualify for his state nursing license. The exam automatically shuts off when the applicant answers enough questions to pass or fail.  

“The earliest it can shut down is after 85 questions, and the latest is 150. Mine shut down at 89,” AhSam-Kreiter said, relieved that he had aced the test.

Challenging Road

The road to his nursing degree was not without its challenges.

In 2013, AhSam-Kreiter moved to the Washington, D.C., area when his future husband, Zack AhSam-Kreiter, obtained a new job. While in the D.C. area, he earned an associate degree in surgical technology from Montgomery College in Maryland. After the couple returned to California, AhSam-Kreiter began working as a certified surgical technologist at Natividad Medical Center in Salinas, California, and later at Shriners Hospital for Children in Sacramento. There, he found his passion for working with children and decided to pursue a nursing degree.  

AhSam-Kreiter spent several years applying to nursing schools in California and elsewhere, getting a lot of rejection letters or offers for waitlists. When he was accepted at Hiram, the couple relocated to Streetsboro, Ohio. 

While AhSam-Kreiter was earning his nursing degree, his husband became ill and required open heart surgery, an event that took a toll on his grades as he had to spend time caring for him, while keeping up his coursework at ROTC. Eventually, AhSam-Kreiter reached out to Kent State to see if he could transfer to its nursing program, where he recovered academically.  

AhSam-Kreiter said he wanted to join Air Force ROTC because his husband and maternal grandfather are both Air Force veterans. As a veteran, Zack AhSam-Kreiter gets medical care at Department of Veterans Affairs hospitals and Vincent saw firsthand the great need for nurses.

“I felt like I could make a difference in the VA healthcare system as a nurse,” he said.

During his studies, AhSam-Kreiter took part in the ASCEND Program at Akron Children’s Hospital, an initiative to promote a more diverse workforce, and worked at Akron Children’s as nurse technician in the emergency room, also serving his nursing practicum course there in the surgery department.  

In addition, the College of Nursing presented him with its Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging Award on the day before graduation.

In the ROTC program, he served as his detachment’s Operations Training Group Commander, Mission Support Group Commander, Morale Officer and Lead Lab Flight Commander.  

Proud Moment

At AhSam-Kreiter’s commissioning ceremony, Maj. Christopher Finn, retired U.S. Air Force, administered the oath of office, followed by a pinning ceremony, in which his parents, Angel and Vance AhSam, and his husband tacked the new lieutenant’s bars on his uniform.  

His parents were beaming.  

“I’m as proud as can be,” said his father, Vance AhSam. “I knew this day was coming. He worked really hard, and it was great to be able to see him go through this journey.”

His mother, Angel AhSam, echoed her husband’s pride and said she also finished college as an adult non-traditional student and noted how challenging it can be to complete a degree, but her son persevered.

AhSam-Kreiter then exchanged his first salute with his veteran husband and exchanged his first challenge coin with Maj. Fisher. Challenge coins, often called unit coins, are a military tradition shared to mark notable occasions and accomplishments. They are called challenge coins because members of a military unit may challenge other members to produce a coin at any time.

“I’m so proud of my husband,” Zack AhSam-Kreiter said. “He spent so much time getting here and now it’s finally happened.”

For the future, Vincent AhSam-Kreiter plans to enroll in a master’s program to obtain his nurse practitioner degree, with the hopes of making a career in the Air Force to work as a family nurse practitioner.

“I’m hoping to help military families and their children,” he said.