It was not Bernard Grant's choice to leave New Orleans when his job at the Veterans Affairs Department medical center was transferred after the floods of Hurricane Katrina. But looking back, his transfer led to a tremendous opportunity to educate himself and move up in his career.

Grant, who had worked in nutrition and food services starting as a Wage Grade 1-1 nearly eight years ago, moved to the G.V. (Sonny) Montgomery VA Medical Center in Jackson, Miss., in 2005 after helping evacuate the New Orleans hospital.

Displaced employees were being given jobs at the Jackson hospital, but Grant's options were limited because he did not qualify for those that required a degree.

With that in mind, he completed in 2008 his bachelor's degree in professional interdisciplinary studies and then over two years a master's degree in public health from Jackson State University, Miss. He graduated in August.

During the second year of the master's program, through VA's student career experience program, Grant and another student became administrative residents in the medical center director's office. They shadowed the director and associate director, who in turn mentored Grant and the other student.

Other officials also shared knowledge with Grant as he rotated through their departments. And Grant was pleased to attend an American College of Healthcare Executives conference in Chicago.

The VA program allows student employees to gain work experience that coincides with their education. Grant said working for VA made his classes a fuller experience because he had first-hand, practical insight into topics he was learning about, such as budgets.

Now a GS-7, Grant will have promotion potential to GS-12 once he completes the VA program in December.

The hurricane and its resulting chaos caused him, like so many others, to feel ill-prepared, in part because he did not have a college degree, he said.

"This catastrophe caught me off guard," Bernard said. "I was one of the fortunate ones, having worked for the VA. The VA took care of us, but I still found myself empty without that education."

Jackson State University's College of Lifelong Learning is designed for returning adults. Grant's supervisors were pro-education, and helped him work his schedule around school when needed, though most classes were in the evenings.

"It's important to have your employer behind you," Grant said. "If you have their blessing, it makes it easier on you."

Still, he made it a point to never leave any of his work responsibilities undone, or for someone else to do, because he didn't want anyone to feel he wasn't up to the challenge.

Getting good grades in school while working full time required him to be disciplined and to prioritize his time so he could write papers and finish other assignments.

"I had to make sure that I spent my weekends wisely," he said. "I was always in the library Sunday evenings."

Grant said students who choose to return to school probably are more focused on why they're there. "Sometimes it takes disasters to allow us to see where we really are and where we really want to be," he said. "I jumped on it, and I'm glad I did."