Bryan Fletcher flies high above Oberstdorf, Germany.
Photo courtesy of Bryan Fletcher
Muscles on fire, pushing himself to the limit. Frigid wind
in his face, soaring through the air. The quest for an Olympic medal. Bryan Fletcher remembers well what it was like competing in Nordic Combined events for
the 2014 and 2018 Winter Olympics. They were battles he relished.
Fletcher, 32, can also recall back to when he was 6 and
tried ski jumping for the first time in his hometown of Steamboat Springs, Colorado,
while he was still on chemotherapy for leukemia diagnosed at age 3. He was immediately
hooked. Fletcher already latched on to cross country skiing starting at 4 years
old, combined it with his new passion, trained hard over the years, survived
cancer – even thrived – in the meantime and went on to become a two-time
Olympian.
Bryan Fletcher, foreground, competes in 2018 U.S. Olympic Trials.
Photo by, Steven Earl
But those chapters – his personal combat with cancer, the
roar of crowds cheering him on at the Olympics – are behind him now. Fletcher
figures both experiences, the knowledge gained from fighting cancer and from
knowing how to take care of his body as a world-class athlete, nudged him in
the direction of pursuing a career in the medical field. Knowing early on he
had to prepare for life after professional sports (he racked up 28 Top Ten
World Cup finishes), he took college courses, mostly online, through several
institutions over the years as time away from training and competition would
allow.
After the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, it was time
to get serious about higher education. Balancing family – he is married with
two children, one born in March, living in Heber – and working as a patient
care technician at Park City Hospital, Fletcher needed a college that could be
flexible with his schedule and low cost. He found Salt Lake Community College.
Not familiar with SLCC, he expected a small campus, maybe
one big building. But when he arrived for his first classes at SLCC’s
Taylorsville Redwood Campus in the summer of 2018, he was pleasantly surprised
in many ways. “It’s like a university campus at Taylorsville,” he says. “It’s
bigger than most four-year institutions. I couldn’t believe it was a community
college.” He has also taken classes at SLCC’s Jordan Campus. “I was just really
blown away by both campuses and what they had to offer.” He loved the small
class sizes, the quality of instruction, the look and feel of campus life –
everything, really.
With promotional skills honed as a professional and Olympic
athlete, Fletcher has gained a reputation for promoting the college and his
positive experiences at SLCC whenever he has the opportunity. “I tell others a
fair bit about SLCC,” he says. “I know lots of students going to grad school
for nursing, and I talk to them about the nursing program at SLCC, as well as
opportunities to get your prerequisites there for PA (physician’s assistant)
programs.”
Since those first classes last summer, he has been taking
science-based labs and math courses at SLCC, arcing toward a bachelor’s degree
in health education and promotion that he expects to earn from Utah State
University in May. With an eye on becoming a physician’s assistant someday,
Fletcher plans on sticking with SLCC through spring 2020 for more chemistry and
biology classes in preparation for his goal. “You don’t have to pay big bucks,
and you still get high-quality classes and professors,” he says. “I’m learning
as much, if not more, than other colleges I’ve attended.”
