{"id":1138,"date":"2024-12-10T14:33:09","date_gmt":"2024-12-10T14:33:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.wcsu.edu\/success-stories\/?p=1138"},"modified":"2024-12-26T16:27:09","modified_gmt":"2024-12-26T16:27:09","slug":"veteran-thomas-simeone-looks-forward-to-his-second-career-with-his-westconn-nursing-degree","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wcsu.edu\/success-stories\/2024\/12\/10\/veteran-thomas-simeone-looks-forward-to-his-second-career-with-his-westconn-nursing-degree\/","title":{"rendered":"Veteran Thomas Simeone looks forward to his second career with his WestConn Nursing degree"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Thomas

Thomas Simeone in Alaska, 2023.<\/p><\/div>\n

When Thomas Simeone crosses the stage at Western Connecticut State University\u2019s<\/a> Commencement ceremony in May 2025, he will receive his second bachelor\u2019s degree and begin the journey to a completely new career. Simeone, of Ridgefield, has about a dozen more years of life experiences than most of his classmates \u2014 many of which have taken him to exotic locales and high-stakes assignments \u2014 and he can\u2019t wait to start his next chapter.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter graduating from Ridgefield High School in 2010, I went to UConn and got a bachelor\u2019s degree in history and communications, thinking I would end up becoming a history teacher,\u201d Simeone said. \u201cI ended up joining the Coast Guard in 2015, and attended boot camp in Cape May, New Jersey.\u201d From there, Simeone embarked upon six years of adventures that took him to Portland, Maine, where he worked in maritime law enforcement checking lobster boats and fishing vessels for violations and doing search and rescue operations for vessels in distress during storms. \u201cThose were wild times getting rocked around on the North Atlantic<\/span>,\u201d Simeone recalled.<\/p>\n

\"Thomas

Thomas Simeone as Cover Officer at the 2018 Super Bowl LII in Minneapolis, Minnesota.<\/p><\/div>\n

Simeone next attended Maritime Enforcement Specialist \u201cA\u201d School in Virginia, where he trained to be a machinery technician, and soon found himself stationed in Long Beach, California, where his duties included countering illegal activities sea. As part of the Coast Guard\u2019s Maritime Safety and Security LA\/LB Team, Simeone actively protected port infrastructure. \u201cI was in Puerto Rico providing hurricane relief in 2017,\u201d Simeone said. \u201cI was in a joint operation with Australia to protect heads of state in Papua New Guinea in the Pacific Islands. In 2018, I worked with canine units at the Super Bowl in Minneapolis to sweep the conference center and other facilities to protect participants, celebrities and members of the public. I also worked in Valdez, Alaska, providing oil tanker escorts, and saved about 20 people on a sinking houseboat in Lake Powell, California.\u201d<\/p>\n

After six years of seeing and providing service to the world, Simeone retired from the Coast Guard in 2021 and was ready to start his next career. \u201cI had already been trained as an EMT\/First Responder by the Coast Guard, I got certified as an EMT at Danbury Hospital, and I decided to take the next step and get a nursing degree so I can work in an Emergency Department,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Simeone enrolled in WestConn\u2019s Nursing program. \u201cWestConn has a great nursing program with a great hospital nearby close to where I grew up, so it was an easy choice for me,” Simeone said. “Im glad i chose it because of all these wonderful things that it has allowed me to do.” <\/span>Once on campus, Simeone became active in the Student Veteran Organization (SVO), as an on-air personality on the campus radio station, WXCI and as a member of the Student Nurses Association. Simeone serves as secretary for both the SVO and WXCI, and is known as DJ Regalia on his radio show that features music from the \u201980s and \u201990s and \u201cfun banter with guests.\u201d Simeone said that one of his favorite things on campus is the radio station, which has been student-run for 50 years. He has also attained Dean\u2019s List every semester.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s interesting being older than some of my classmates and having some life experience, it gives me a different perspective<\/span>,\u201d Simeone said.\u00a0“The military allowed me to become independent and see the world. <\/span>Now that I\u2019m at WestConn, the people I have met here have been great and I\u2019ve made lifelong friends. The small campus, small class sizes and great faculty \u2014 it just works. It\u2019s a great school that offers a lot and it\u2019s not overwhelming. I\u2019m getting a quality education.\u201d<\/p>\n

Currently a patient care technician at Danbury Hospital, Simeone\u2019s goal is to work in the Emergency Department or post-surgical unit at a local hospital. As he anticipates his graduation, he said, \u201cI\u2019m looking forward to taking the NCLEX exam so I can start practicing my craft.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Western Connecticut State University changes lives by providing all students with a high-quality education that fosters their growth as individuals, scholars, professionals and leaders in a global society. Our vision: To be widely recognized as a premier public university with outstanding teachers and scholars who prepare students to contribute to the world in a meaningful way.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

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 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When Thomas Simeone crosses the stage at Western Connecticut State University\u2019s Commencement ceremony in May 2025, he will receive his second bachelor\u2019s degree and begin the journey to a completely new career. Simeone, of Ridgefield, has about a dozen more …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":41,"featured_media":1139,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wds_primary_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[20,51,52],"class_list":["post-1138","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-success-stories","tag-nursing","tag-success-story","tag-veteran"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wcsu.edu\/success-stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1138","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wcsu.edu\/success-stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wcsu.edu\/success-stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wcsu.edu\/success-stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/41"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wcsu.edu\/success-stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1138"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.wcsu.edu\/success-stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1138\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wcsu.edu\/success-stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1139"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wcsu.edu\/success-stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1138"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wcsu.edu\/success-stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1138"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wcsu.edu\/success-stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1138"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}