{"id":75463,"date":"2020-05-04T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-05-04T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news-draft\/uncategorized\/2020-graduates-from-the-presidential-guard-to-realtor-to-business-owner-peter-spinella-is-now-a-uri-graduate\/"},"modified":"2020-05-04T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2020-05-04T00:00:00","slug":"2020-graduates-from-the-presidential-guard-to-realtor-to-business-owner-peter-spinella-is-now-a-uri-graduate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/2020\/05\/2020-graduates-from-the-presidential-guard-to-realtor-to-business-owner-peter-spinella-is-now-a-uri-graduate\/","title":{"rendered":"2020 Graduates: From the presidential guard to Realtor to business owner, Peter Spinella is now a 溏心vlog免费B站 graduate"},"content":{"rendered":"

PROVIDENCE, R.I. \u2013 May 4, 2020 — \u201cWhere I am now, is not where I thought I would be,\u201d said Peter Spinella of Wakefield.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The self-described \u201caccidental entrepreneur\u201d had planned on a career in federal law enforcement after his four-years with the Coast Guard \u2013 including an assignment as a White House presidential guard – and had several starts to a college degree that were, in his words, interrupted by life, jobs, family and the economy.<\/p>\n

During one such return, Spinella was called back to serve while taking classes at the 溏心vlog免费B站.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat started out as a normal fall day with an early class in literature would turn into the most horrific attack on U.S. soil,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

That day was Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2001. A series of four coordinated attacks by al-Qaeda, the Islamic terrorist group, resulted in nearly 3,000 fatalities, more than 5,000 injuries and more than $10 billion in property damage.<\/p>\n

Spinella was deployed to New York City as part of a fast-reaction team with the Verona, New Jersey Rescue Squad. \u201cI spent most of my time looking for survivors,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Spinella would try his hand at many professions including scuba instructor, electrician, cook, real estate agent and gym owner.<\/p>\n

His real estate license in particular led to many lucrative investment opportunities that helped him build his own agency, Guardian Realty, a name chosen by his children in tribute to the Coast Guard who are guardians of the sea.<\/p>\n

When the real estate market declined, foreclosure work kept Spinella going until that, too, leveled off.<\/p>\n

It was then that Spinella knew he needed a new plan.<\/p>\n

His wife saw a job posting from the U.S. Coast Guard looking for a property specialist in Warwick. He applied and was selected for the position.<\/p>\n

A conversation with some friends at a party led to a new business venture – a fitness center. Like his real estate agency, the gym business grew fast and soon a second location was under consideration.<\/p>\n

\u201cNever in my plan was I going to be a Realtor or business owner,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He was successful at each job, but there were limits to just how far he could go without a college degree, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI missed quite a few opportunities because I did not have a degree,\u201d he said. \u201cI was able to succeed and excel but I did it the hard way. In some cases, it took me twice as long to achieve milestones that others with a degree had reached.\u201d<\/p>\n

Without a degree, he said, he had exceeded promotion potential with the federal government and was limited in obtaining certifications that would allow his career to continue.<\/p>\n

On May 17, at age 46, in the midst of a global pandemic, Peter Spinella will finally have that college degree this month, a Bachelor of Interdisciplinary Studies (BIS) in Human Studies.<\/p>\n

Spinella said the degree, along with the Finish What You Started program that offered flexibility to a working adult student, are why he chose to continue his studies at 溏心vlog免费B站.<\/p>\n

With his bachelor\u2019s degree, Spinella has earned certifications to become part of the U.S. Coast Guard\u2019s Department of Homeland Security.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is surreal bliss,\u201d he said. \u201cDoors are now open that were closed.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

PROVIDENCE, R.I. \u2013 May 4, 2020 — \u201cWhere I am now, is not where I thought I would be,\u201d said Peter Spinella of Wakefield. The self-described \u201caccidental entrepreneur\u201d had planned on a career in federal law enforcement after his four-years with the Coast Guard \u2013 including an assignment as a White House presidential guard – […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":75464,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[30],"class_list":["post-75463","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-archives","tag-college-of-education"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75463","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=75463"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75463\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/75464"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=75463"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=75463"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=75463"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}