第一代大学毕业生, Jordan Ortman earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology in May 2021 from 最靠谱的网赌软件. 起初，他不知道大学是否适合他. However, he persevered and became a trainee in the Monarchs Maximizing Access to Research Careers (M-MARC) now known as 大学生研究训练计划（U-RISE）. He is on the path to pursuing a doctorate degree and Ortman credits his upward path to success to all of the faculty and mentors in the U-RISE program and the Department of Psychology at ODU.
奥特曼在科罗拉多州的科罗拉多斯普林斯长大，是七个孩子中的老大. “我不确定我是否真的适合上大学，”奥特曼说. “我来自一个没有大学毕业生的家庭, 就好像我不知道从哪里开始.”
He decided to start at Pikes Peak Community College in Colorado, and he did well his first year. 然而，他的家人在他一年级毕业后就搬到了弗吉尼亚. He was able to transfer to Tidewater Community College and finished his last two semesters in Virginia Beach.
“I told myself that if I'm going to go into all this debt to pay for school then I'm going to put the work into it,” said Ortman. “I ended up having a couple of good semesters at TCC and for the first time ever in my life, I had a 4.0 GPA.”
Proud of his accomplishments, he made another decision about which university to attend. “我听说过关于ODU的伟大事迹, 从本质上讲，它为上大学提供了超值的成本,” said Ortman.
由于不知道如何驾驭高等教育，他一开始很担心. “Initially, college was so scary because it was something completely new and different and I just felt like I didn't really have any guidance,” said Ortman. “But one of my Psychology professors suggested that I reach out to the M-MARC (now called U-RISE) program because they help individuals who might face challenges in pursuing a research career by supporting them early in their path.”
After Ortman met with Chemistry Professor and M-MARC Co-Principal Investigator Alvin Holder, Ph.D., “it was immediately apparent to me that he truly had the best intentions in mind for his students. 他真的希望我们成功。”奥特曼说. 奥特曼解释说，他是经济条件有限的第一代学生. 他被接纳为该项目的第二批实习生. 不知道如何参与研究, Holder and the M-MARC program became the guiding force to Ortman’s involvement in psychology research.
As an M-MARC trainee, Ortman rotated through several labs in ODU’s Department of Psychology. 同时感受不同的实验室, Ortman had a chance to participate in Assistant Professor Abby Braitman’s Alcohol Studies lab. This led him to start working on research projects, and his interest in research took off. 在布莱特曼实验室工作的时候, Ortman also had the opportunity to do research work at the 东弗吉尼亚医学院.
He was getting his footing under him in doing undergraduate research but then the COVID-19 global pandemic hit. “When Covid first came around everything went virtual and I'm sure I'm not alone in this, but I hated it,” said Ortman. “我真的认为面对面的交流更有意义.” But he persevered and continued doing research despite of the social distancing guidelines surrounding COVID-19.
2020年，就连他的暑期本科研究经历也被改变了. “我们本来打算在另一所大学过暑假, work in another lab, and have the final product be a research poster but that ended up being virtual for me,” said Ortman. “我的暑期研究经历是在布兰代斯大学（Brandeis University）. Hannah Snyder's lab who was connected with the M-MARC program and that was a really awesome experience as well,” said Ortman. 由于心理学研究的性质, Ortman was able to stay on task and do survey research despite the COVID-19 restrictions.
在他第二年开始的时候, he returned to ODU (virtually) but fully involved in poster presentations and remote conferences as part of M-MARC. 此外，他还参加了大量的职业发展机会. “我没有达到我需要的专业水平, 我没有像我应该的那样优雅,” said Ortman. “I think the M-MARC program helped me take baby steps to incrementally build up to where I needed to be, 这对我来说是非常重要的.”
在2021年秋季从ODU毕业后, 奥特曼申请了临床心理学博士课程, 他申请了ODU的心理学硕士课程. “I did get accepted into the master’s program at ODU, but the program was expensive,” said Ortman. 然而，他并没有获得临床心理学博士学位.D. program. “它比医学院竞争更激烈, 他们的录取率大约是2%,” said Ortman. 然而，他并没有放弃在心理学领域的研究.
“但在完成ODU和M-MARC之后, 我不会用这段经历换任何东西，因为它是无价的,” said Orman. “我真的爱上了做心理学研究的想法.这份爱为他开辟了一条道路，让他在这个领域开创了自己的事业.
在霍尔德的帮助下, Ortman did a post-baccalaureate at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio for a year and worked for a second year there. Ortman knew he was ready to reapply to a doctoral program after gaining more research experience.
第二次，奥特曼申请了博士课程，并被录取了. In the spring of 2024, he began a doctoral degree at the University of Central Florida in their Ph.D. 心理学专业.
奥特曼说：“如果没有M-MARC，我真的不认为我会有今天的成就。. “它确实对我的学术生涯产生了极其重大的影响, 最终让我获得了博士学位.D. 我现在参加的项目.
Ortman is thankful for everyone in the M-MARC program who set the foundation for him to take part in research experiences. “Having the M-MARC program pair me with a great mentor and in a great lab was essential,” said Ortman.
This is his advice to Monarchs interested in working in the current U-RISE program: “It's an intensive program, 所以不适合胆小的人. If you're thinking of going down this career path, just know that you're going to be working hard. 这会很耗时，但也会很充实. So, if there is something inside you that has an interest in research and you want to make a meaningful impact on the world, 但你只是不确定从哪里开始, 那么M-MARC计划（现在的U-RISE）就是完美的解决方案.”
感谢他所有的导师和那些在ODU帮助过他的人, Ortman has this to say: “I don't know how to thank them enough for investing their time and their resources into me. It was the first time I experienced someone recognizing my potential and investing the time and resources to help me achieve it. 它对那些在学术界努力寻找前进方向的人很有价值.”
回顾过去，奥特曼为自己的起点和现在的位置感到自豪. 此外，作为长子，他为兄弟姐妹树立了榜样. 他有两个妹妹，现在都在上大学. “我希望能够帮助别人，我真的很喜欢把它传递出去. 我真的很喜欢ODU, and I'm glad it's where I ended up because I wouldn’t trade graduating from there for anything!"