Jamie Azure

"M State made my dreams come true, even if I didn’t know of those dreams at the time.

In late 2008, after 15 years of working construction, I was injured on the job. After surgery, I was told that I would never be able to work that type of construction again and was given the option to become retrained in a new profession. I was in my early 30s, hadn’t taken a college course for 10-plus years, couldn’t stand for more than 15 minutes at a time, and was anxious about starting college over at a somewhat advanced age.

From the first minute, my advisor understood my situation and worked above and beyond to make learning accessible to me. After graduating, I started a construction company, and my degree was key to the quick success of that business. We surpassed our five-year plan in the first year.

I was also elected to the Tribal Council of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa, and then appointed chairman of the Council soon after that. This is where the lessons learned from M State come into play: without those tools I would not be as effective as I am at all levels."