Quentin Tesi’s journey to nursing began with early parenthood and a career in the military. At 17, after becoming a father, he enlisted in the Army reserve and later became a flight medic in the Special Operations Aviation Regiment. “I went to the University of Toledo on a football scholarship,” Tesi said. “And then, I had a son when I was 17. It kind of changed the course from playing college football to the Army.”
Tesi earned a bachelor’s degree in construction management while serving, describing his academic path as “one class at a time.” He advanced through rigorous training, including the Army’s ‘Whiskey-1’ test for combat medics, and completed six global deployments.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Tesi served as a paramedic and managed an emergency department in Romania while on NATO deployment. “I ran the department or worked shifts in the department as a provider, which was very, very, very interesting,” he said. “(There were times that) people were looking at me like, ‘What are we doing?’ I’d say, ‘You’re a doctor. I’m not a doctor.’”
Although he was scheduled for redeployment during this period, travel restrictions kept him stationed in Romania for over a year. This experience led him to pursue nursing full-time after medically retiring from the Army in 2021.
After leaving military service and working briefly for both the U.S. Department of State and private security—including for Sheldon Adelson’s family—Tesi decided to enroll in Grand Canyon University’s Accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing (ABSN) program. The transition was not straightforward; deployments interrupted his studies more than once before he transferred into GCU’s program.
Tesi credits his faith with helping him navigate personal challenges encountered during military service: “Call me a lukewarm Christian,” he said. “I believed, I went to church, but I wasn’t really active in my faith, and I wasn’t pursuing my relationship with God.” Witnessing traumatic events overseas challenged his beliefs further: “And I was losing people, amazing people. I questioned a lot about my faith,” he said. “Then we had more than one occasion (that I can say), the only reason I’m here is divine intervention.”
He described how surrendering spiritually changed his outlook: “I was surrendering (to God),” Tesi said.“It changed everything. And really, there has been no turning back.”
Now focused on building stability for himself and his family post-divorce by studying full-time at GCU, Tesi continues to reflect on where his career is headed: “I really struggle with what my calling was after being a warrior,” he said. “I chose to be a medic because I wanted to help people… Helping people now satisfies my purpose.”
Looking ahead, Tesi hopes to specialize as an intensive care or emergency nurse but acknowledges uncertainty remains about where exactly he will serve next: “I get affirmations all the time, but I’m still like, ‘OK, am I on the right path?’ Am I doing the things that I’m called to do? I’m certain that helping people is my calling; I just don’t know what capacity yet… we’re on this path until we’re not on this path.”
