Yamil Brito spent 16 and a half years serving in the United States military. While enlisted, he served in a number of positions, but came back to civilian life with a desire to try something new. Something just as important, but also something that he didn’t already accomplish during his time in the military.
Brito is a father to two children who are both beginning college. His daughter recently enrolled in a medical sonography program at a different university in Orlando, which caught Brito’s attention. He was already interested in the Radiology Technology field and began to take his interest more seriously when he learned what his daughter wanted to study.
Brito enrolled in Keiser University Daytona’s Associate of Science in Radiologic Technology degree program, where he is now steadily making his way through the general studies.
“I want to be an example for my family,” Brito said. “I want my kids to know that it’s okay if you take a break because you can always go back and do something.”
Balancing two children in college and his own enrollment at a university has been rather easy for Brito, but he blames the lack of a struggle on his childrens’ older age.
“In my case, it’s funny because I am doing better in my classes than my son and daughter are,” Brito laughed. “It’s funny when we talk about classes and I say ‘how am I doing better than you? I’ve been out of school for so long’.”
After graduating with his associate degree, Brito said that he would like to continue studying with Keiser University’s degree programs.
“I want to see how far I can go on something that I work for,” Brito said. “In the military, you don’t work for something, you train and you just do what you’re supposed to do. But when you go to college you learn about something, a profession or a trade, and it’s a different story than the military.”
Brito is a recipient of the Effective Access to Student Education (EASE) grant, a grant created in 1979 and renamed in 2018 that provides tuition assistance to undergraduate students enrolled in degree programs at eligible independent, nonprofit colleges or universities in Florida. He said that the financial assistance from the EASE grant has allowed him to take care of the educational needs that other scholarships do not cover.
“Even today I have to go buy two more books for my next class, and the [EASE grant] has been very helpful at covering that,” Brito said. “I’m very appreciative.”
Keiser University is a private, independent, non-profit university serving nearly 20,000 students at 21 Florida campuses, online, and two international sites. Co-founded in 1977 by Chancellor Arthur Keiser, Ph.D., and Evelyn Keiser, Keiser University currently offers more than 100 degrees from associate to the doctoral level. Keiser University is a designated Hispanic-Serving Institution, a member of the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities, and was ranked No. 1 in the U.S. in providing Social Mobility by U.S. News and World Report in 2023.
My instructors believed in me. They were more than instructors, they tried to get to know you as a person and tried to understand your goals so they could push you towards them. Student services helped me find a job before I even graduated. Everyone was dedicated to my overall success.
