Brunswick Hills firefighter, Air Force reservist completes Tri-C nursing degree while deployed overseas

BRUNSWICK HILLS TWP. — While on his second deployment with the Air Force, now in Afghanistan, Andrew Pavell added the title of registered nurse to his already impressive list of accomplishments. Pavell, a 13-year veteran of the Brunswick Hills Fire Department and a member of the U.S. Air Force Reserves since 2012, completed Cuyahoga Community College's nursing program he started prior to his deployment. "When I initially started nursing school, I was coming back from a deployment, I was taking some prerequisites to get into the nursing program, got into the nursing program and then this deployment opportunity came up," Pavell said. "I was nervous because I wanted to deploy but I was so close to being done with school. "We had found out that we were deploying right before the semester and (Tri-C was) great in working with me to make sure that I was able to take any classes online. Everything worked out perfectly where I was able to complete my clinicals a few weeks before I deployed." Thankfully for Pavell, he had some help along the way. In what he called the most stressful semester of the program due to COVID-19, an eight-hour time difference and readying for deployment, a fellow medic helped him study and review materials leading up to his final exam. All that hard work and assistance from those close to him more than paid off when he got his final scores back. "You're busy doing your job over here and traveling (and) now there's a time change … so trying to plan for attending lectures and taking tests on eastern time, it was very stressful," Pavell said. "When I took that test (on Wednesday) and I hit submit and saw that I passed and passed better than I thought I would, it was a huge sense of relief." Helping others has always been a passion of Pavell, meaning joining the Fire Department and serving as a medic in the Air Force were natural decisions for him. With this degree now under his belt, Pavell is one step closer to reaching his ultimate goal of being a commissioned nurse in the Air Force. "I need to get some experience working as a nurse and once I'm able to get that experience, I'm able to put in for that position on the base that I'm hoping to get on the (Critical Care Air Transportation Team)," Pavell said. "I love being enlisted. I love being in the Air Force, especially as a reservist. It's very doable with the schedule. I'm going to work a little bit as a nurse and once I have the experience and the requirements, I can pursue that option." Brunswick Hills Fire Chief Anthony Strazzo lauded Pavell's dedication to not only the Brunswick Hills community but to the country as well. "We always encourage our employees to expand their knowledge and improve their abilities," Strazzo said. "Andrew is a great example of that. He's always looking to improve himself, which trickles down to the improvement of our department and patient care and service to the township. What he's done is a phenomenal thing." As he now continues on in his career, Pavell thanked everyone who helped him along the way and said "everything aligned" to allow him to take this next step. "There have been so many people that helped me get to this," Pavell said. "Tri-C has been phenomenal, the military has been phenomenal (and) all my employers have been phenomenal. To be able to have completed this semester when I did and have everything fall into place, I'm very lucky and very grateful." Contact reporter Jack Kopanski at (330) 721-4063 or jkopanski@medina-gazette.com.