Baker Proud Fall 2017 - 10

Baker Builds Fighters:
Lacey Deardoff

n May 2014, Lacey Deardoff, '17 was "living the normal 24-year-old life." She was a recent graduate of the
University of Kansas, and she was perfectly content
with her bachelor's degree and her life as a pharmaceutical technician at Quintiles in Overland Park, Kansas.
Her job required that she work every third weekend, so
as her friends were going out on the night of Friday, May
23, Lacey was planning to turn in early so she could be at
work at 6:30 a.m. the next day. Little did she know how
much her life would change the next morning.
As Deardoff was driving through pouring rain on I-435
on her way to work, she witnessed a driver spin out and
crash into the median. When Deardoff pulled over to help
the woman involved, another driver hydroplaned and lost
control of his vehicle and struck both women. The accident occurred just outside Overland Park Regional Medical
Center, where both women were taken and immediately
induced into comas.
Deardoff had suffered an injury to her right eye, nine
broken ribs, a broken shoulder, broken nose, broken collar
bone, a broken leg (in three places), a collapsed lung, a
head injury, and a stroke.
As she lay recovering in her hospital bed over the next
few weeks, she grew annoyed by the saying "Everything
happens for a reason." Looking back now, Deardoff sees
that notion in a different light.
"There is a silver lining to everything," Deardoff said.
"I think the silver lining to [the accident] is it gave me a
perspective on life that I wouldn't have had without it."
Laughing at the irony, she added, "Things happen for a
reason. Now, I guess I'll say it."

Starting the Next Chapter
During her undergraduate work, Deardoff found that
she wanted to do something in the medical field but just
didn't know quite what that was. At times, she thought
about being a dentist or a doctor or a dental hygienist or
a nurse, and took a variety of biology courses to expand
her knowledge. Although she has her Bachelor of Science
in General Studies, she was one course away from making it a BS in Human Biology. Her job in pharmaceutical
research at Quintiles, a technician position, required her
to draw blood, run ECGs, and take vital signs.
After graduating, she wondered whether furthering her
education would be worthwhile, eventually deciding that
she was content with her life as it was. Then the accident
happened.
"After my accident, I had a whole new outlook on life,"
Deardoff said. "Life is short. Why not do it? I don't think I
would have gotten my master's if it hadn't been for the accident. But after my accident, I was like, 'Let's do this! You
have another chance at life. Why not do it? Here we go!'"
Six months after her accident, Deardoff began her
search for graduate schools. After receiving impersonal
and automated responses from other schools, an energetic
recruiter and personalized outreach from Baker University
led to her choose the School of Professional and Graduate
Studies.

"I think being on the receiving end of the health
care world gives me a good perspective to go
into health care administration. I've seen how
those organizations change peoples' lives,
how they heal and help people, and that is
what I want to do." -Lacey Deardoff
"[My Baker University recruiter] just seemed genuinely interested in me and genuinely interested in helping
me further my education, and she made me think that I
could do it," Deardoff said.
About two weeks later, she enrolled.
Her Baker Legacy
Deardoff graduated from Baker in May 2017 with a
Master in Business Administration with a concentration in
health care administration.
"I have always been interested in health care," Deardoff
said. "I think being on the receiving end of the health care
world gives me a good perspective to go into health care
administration. I've seen how those organizations change
peoples' lives, how they heal and help people, and that is
what I want to do."
Deardoff has had quite a journey in just a few short
years. As she reflects on her accident and her recovery,
she is thankful for the role that getting her master's played
in the process.

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Baker Proud Fall 2017