Couple pursues online nursing degrees together

Angie Fiorilla and Justin Snoots met in the classroom.

At a local community college, they each earned degrees in psychology and then nursing. Now married, they completed their BSN degrees at Capella in winter 2017 and have since started their MSNs. Learning has been part of their life together from the start.

“Working on and completing a degree at the same time as my wife has been tremendously helpful,” Snoots says. “We’ve developed ways to motivate each other to complete our coursework, and we’re aware of each other’s bad habits so we can help each other avoid them.”

Two nurses in one family

Before Capella, Fiorilla and Snoots initially earned bachelor’s degrees in psychology. But they graduated in 2009, the wake of the recession, and jobs were hard to find. Both husband and wife decided to pursue a career in nursing, becoming RNs. One year later, when they decided they needed additional education and wanted to enroll in an RN-to-BSN program, they researched several educational options and decided on Capella. Online education offered flexibility for their busy family life and careers.

“We live a busy life with our two kids and crazy work schedules,” Snoots says. “We adore our little boys and pour most of our time into them. Capella does not interrupt that.”

Capella’s flexible approach allows the couple to hold jobs while in school. Snoots is a staff nurse in the heart and vascular ICU at Penn State Hershey Medical Center, and Fiorilla works at the same center as a staff nurse in the chemotherapy infusion clinic.

Their success earning their Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) degrees at Capella ultimately led them to continue on to pursue MSNs, with the hope that additional education will help them to advance their careers even further.

The right balance

The couple says that earning multiple degrees at Capella University makes sense from both career and lifestyle perspectives. “In my opinion, Capella is made for the working family member,” Snoots explains. “The flexibility of online and the faculty’s empathy allow you to complete your coursework while not feeling completely disconnected from your personal life. The material is presented in a way that is understandable. In addition to how friendly, available and helpful every Capella employee has been, features such as auto-enrollment have allowed us to just focus on coursework.”

“We really can’t say enough good things about Capella,” Fiorilla adds.

Snoots concludes, “Capella strikes the right balance, allowing us to further our education without losing ourselves in the process. It has definitely been the right choice for Angie and me.”

Learn more about Capella’sonline nursing degree programs.