A former Eastern Washington University student is celebrating a homecoming of sorts. Thanks to a new program at EWU, she is no longer a former student, rather a current student again.
Noelle Covarrubias studied music performance at EWU between 2010 and 2012. But when her family decided to move to the Midwest halfway through her Sophomore year, Covarrubias went with them, ending her time at Eastern.
“I loved Eastern,” Covarrubias says. “It was such a hard decision for me to leave.”
Covarrubias fell in love with the university as a high school student in the Tri-Cities. Her choir teacher recommended she attend the EWU Jazz Dialogue Summer Camp her freshman year.
“It was such a great experience for me. I learned a lot,” says Covarrubias. She went on to attend the summer camp all four years of high school and says it’s what inspired her to attend Eastern.
But when her plans changed in the winter of 2012, Covarrubias transferred to Winona State University in Winona, Minnesota. She completed a BA in sociology and minors in music and gerontology––the scientific study of aging.
Even with a degree and a new home halfway across the country, Covarrubias still dreamed of returning to Eastern someday. “I told myself if I ever went back to get my master’s, I would definitely go back to Eastern.”
Covarrubias says she knew the time was right this spring when EWU announced the start of a new Online MBA Program. She applied––was accepted––and will start in the inaugural classes in the fall.
If you’re wondering if she is excited, her Instagram post announcing her acceptance pretty much sums it up:
EWU’s Online MBA Program is fully online, meaning Covarrubias won’t physically return to campus. But she intends to return to Cheney for graduation once she completes the program.
Covarrubias will take the online classes while she works full time at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. She says she expects the EWU Online MBA Program will teach her more about the business culture in the healthcare industry and help her advance her career.
She’s also not ruling out a move back to the Inland Northwest someday. Covarrubias says she likes the small community feel of Cheney and Spokane and has friends in the area.
If you would like to learn more about the Online MBA Program, or other EWU online offerings, please visit our websites.
