SNHU Spotlight: Sheralyn Hernandez, MBA in Healthcare Management Grad

Sheralyn Hernandez ’21 ’25MBA earned two degrees at Southern New Hampshire University (SNHU) — and she also learned to celebrate her achievements in a way she once struggled to do.

When Hernandez completed her bachelor’s degree, she didn’t attend her commencement ceremony. “I have a hard time celebrating myself,” she said. When she finished her MBA in Healthcare Management, though, she decided to travel from New York to SNHU’s spring commencement in Manchester, New Hampshire. It was important, she said, to actually walk for this ceremony.

And on that day, Hernandez said she overcame the challenges of celebrating herself. “So, it was totally worth it,” she said. “Learning how to celebrate myself and my accomplishments.”

Her experience at Commencement solidified completion of her MBA. “It feels real,” she said. “I think all the emotions kind of hit me at once… and I finally got emotional and… reflected on all the hard times that actually, you know, that led to this moment here.”

Hernandez's goal in completing her degree was two-fold: She wanted to show her 14-year-old daughter that it is possible to complete all of your goals — and she wanted to do something for herself, she said, to show up for herself.

“The MBA was something I didn’t think I would accomplish,” Hernandez said, as she reflected on her academic experiences. The first person in her family to earn a degree, she built upon the foundation she developed while earning her bachelor’s in healthcare administration at SNHU to pursue her MBA in Healthcare Management.

Part of the reason she continued on at SNHU for her master’s was based on her undergraduate experience. “It’s just amazing. From the advisors… the enrollment process, onboarding,” she said.

Hernandez spoke of the attention to detail demonstrated by the university’s staff, particularly the academic advisors, who she said were always checking in, making sure she was in good shape.

“Just the overall process was really smooth, and you know…just that push that you don’t kind of get in other universities, that one-on-one kind of touching base, which makes you feel important and that… your progress actually matters,” she said. “So, that’s definitely a highlight of this university.”

When it came to who taught her classes, Hernandez said, “I certainly felt supported with my professors."

While she did encounter some challenging times as she completed her MBA, she said, professors were very understanding, very positive, no matter what the hardship was.

“You know, they were always there, pushing through, accommodating when I needed maybe… additional time or also providing a lot of additional resources,” Hernandez said. “I definitely felt like they weren’t giving up on you, whether they were a professor or an advisor.”

Throughout her MBA in Healthcare Management program, she found every course beneficial.

“In my line of work… I kind of encountered these scenarios, but they were able to teach me new things, but also… see it on a higher level, you know, with the goal of becoming… being a leader in healthcare administration. So, I feel like every course was essential,” she said.

Thinking back to when she began her time with SNHU, Hernandez said her perseverance grown. “One thing my coworkers and leadership at my job also say is resilience,” she said. “I didn’t realize how resilient I really am, despite all the challenges that I encountered from literally my bachelor’s degree into my master’s.”

That’s not to say she didn’t have self-doubt at times. “A lot of times, you know, our doubts and fears kind of prevents (us) from moving forward… just thinking that it’s impossible and it’s too much work,” she said.

But she didn’t let those fears become a barrier to reaching her goals. And, she wishes she had started her degrees sooner.

“To be honest, I felt like… I thought it was going to be, like, extremely intense and I wouldn’t be able to… take care of my daughter and take care of home,” Hernandez said.

The consistency in coursework and due dates helped dissuade those concerns, as well as the support in place, too.

“I knew what days I had to complete work,” she said. “I knew the resources that I had. It just allowed me to balance all of the things currently going on.”

For anyone that is considering earning a degree online at SNHU, Hernandez encourages them to “just start… you don’t know what the program entails until you actually try.”

She said that time continues to go by while you’re considering going back to school — and a year later that you’re still in the same place if you haven’t made a move forward toward a degree.

“Think about what you are passionate about or what skills or degree you need to…pursue what you’re passionate about,” Hernandez said. “Do the research… and show up for yourself."

That’s what she did. That SNHU offered an online program for the field of study she wanted to pursue, she said, it was just a no brainer.

“The online classes assigned, the start dates were fine, just the overall syllabus and the curriculum of the courses,” Hernandez said. “It just hit all the points that I needed to, you know, reach the point that I am today in my field.”

Pamme Boutselis ’15, ’17G is an award-winning writer and content producer, currently serving as a senior director of content and a communication adjunct at Southern New Hampshire University. She loves hearing and sharing stories. As a writer spanning a 25-year career, her work has been featured in print and online via news media, career and education-focused blogs, regional magazines, technology publications and more.

A bachelor’s and master’s in communication — earned as an adult learner — positively impacted her life and career, melding decades in diverse industries with professional and academic knowledge and experience. A serial volunteer, Boutselis has been a TEDx organizer since 2013 and a speaker coach. She’s been fortunate to work with dozens of nonprofits throughout the years. Connect with her on LinkedIn.