Graduate Spotlight: Amber Bryant

Amber Bryant noticed something peculiar on the ultrasound of the patient she was scanning, but it wasn’t easy getting to the point that she would even be in this position.

Raising three kids, living in University Place, nearly 40 miles from Seattle University, and working full-time, the diagnostic ultrasound major fought long and hard to finish her bachelor’s degree. She had moments when she wanted to give up but a College of Nursing academic advisor wouldn’t let her.

And now, during a clinical scan as part of her coursework, Bryant noticed something wrong with the person’s aorta.

In some people, pressure can build within the aorta, the largest artery in the body, and its walls can start to stretch and rupture, causing a deadly chain of events. Meanwhile, a person might not even recognize the dire nature of their situation as it’s not something that is typically checked. 

Thanks to Bryant’s perseverance, never giving up on her education—and Seattle University never gave up on her—she spotted this life-threatening heart condition. The person can now begin taking blood pressure medication and connect with a cardiologist to monitor their aorta in case surgery is needed to repair the vital blood passageway.

Bryant might have saved that person’s life and all before she even took her board exam.

“So, I really felt important,” says Bryant, recalling the discovery. “Like, ‘oh my gosh, this job is important.’”

Bryant was first intrigued by a career in ultrasound when she was pregnant with her kids and went to the doctor’s office for sonograms. She was further interested in how the technology can help people when her aunt suffered congestive heart failure and had a stroke.

But it was her mother’s breast cancer diagnosis that lit the fire to go to college.

“It made me realize that life is pretty short,” she says, adding that her mother recovered. “Before anything happened, I wanted her to see me do something good. I wanted her to be proud of me.”

She chose Seattle University because the Jesuit values resonated with her.

“They teach the person as a whole, not just giving you an education on what to do,” she says. “They're actually giving you life skills to be a better person.”

That said, Bryant’s path to graduation and a job offer from the MultiCare Pulse Heart Institute—even before she had her degree in hand—was long and hard. There were times raising her three kids–sons Royce, 14, Rory, 7, and daughter Riyann, 5–and working full time at Kaiser Permanente with its consulting nurse service was too much. She came up short on rent, her car broke down and the time and effort required made her feel like she was neglecting her kids.

She had transferred from Tacoma Community College, but didn’t have enough credits for SU’s College of Nursing, so she had to take four classes each quarter, along with summer school. 

At one point she took a break from her studies, doing a hardship withdrawal, but there was somebody there, encouraging her, helping her overcome the challenges: Undergraduate Academic Advisor Ronda Mitchell.

“She helped me realize this is important,” Bryant says. “She just advocated for me so much. I just felt her love.”

For many students their favorite memory from SU is meeting friends or a professor, a class or a student group. For Bryant, it was the encouragement she received from Mitchell.

“That's my greatest memory,” says Bryant. “She is my greatest memory.”