Richard W. Rodriguez
For some, career success follows a straight line. For others, it’s a winding road that leads back to the classroom.
Across industries, professionals are stepping away from the workforce — if they need to — to sharpen their skills, expand their networks, and open new doors through graduate education.
The motivations vary: career pivot or growth, eyeing a promotion, or a lifelong ambition to learn.
Whatever the reason, they all share the belief that learning doesn’t end with a diploma and that the right education can be a springboard to something greater.
These are their stories, and they didn’t have to look far. With options aplenty in Fort Worth, Arlington, Dallas, and Denton, opportunities were well within reach.
Tim Eastep tried to enlist in the U.S. Marines at age 17. He needed his mother’s permission. She declined to give it. He didn’t need her blessing at age 18, so, from his home in Crandall, Texas, Eastep jumped into basic training. Oh, the places you’ll go as a U.S. Marine.
Among them were two tours in Afghanistan and a trip to provide humanitarian aid in Haiti.
Eastep left the military after four years of service. His next question: Now what? He began studying film, but he soon discovered a film degree did not translate into Hollywood. To get into Hollywood, one needs to be Clint Eastwood’s grandson or Ron Howard’s godson, or some such.
He took a hard left turn: a bachelor’s in bioengineering from UTA, followed by a master’s degree specializing in biomechanics. And now he’s working on a doctorate, hoping to help solve or remedy the joint issues suffered by veterans like him.
“The amount of equipment we carry on us and the missions we handle take a toll on your body,” said Eastep, 35. “In general, an infantry job will have someone carrying at least 40 pounds. That just destroys the joints. Humans naturally experience bone loss, so for us veterans, that is accelerated.”
His Ph.D. research involves orthopedics. He is studying methods of knee replacement, specifically as it relates to reattaching of the condyle end of the femur (that rounded knuckle over your knee).
His research could save patients and insurance companies thousands of dollars.
“To adhere it back, there's one of three methods that a surgeon uses, but there's no standard,” Eastep says. “And there's no data to determine which one's better in terms of efficiency, healing, speed of recovery, all that stuff. So, the study is based around determining what method is better in terms of all those things, but also the cost as well.”
He also has something else going. He founded T7 Biotech, a research and development company aimed at building devices to reduce the strain on service members’ bodies. He and a scientist/professor at the school are also researching the possibility of increasing bone density in humans to alleviate such stress and lessen the damage of the common IED.
The Army has expressed an interest in the research, which will require a government grant to start in earnest. He says he is also learning on the fly all about the politics of the business of bureaucracy and regulations.
“It’s in the very early stages,” he says.
