By The alarm rings at 5 a.m. Time for PT.
Aidaen grabs his bag and heads out for an hour and a half workout.
When the workout ends, there’s barely time to shower before he’s in his scrubs and off to clinicals
Aidaen Jarvis, a senior Nursing Major from Columbia Falls, Montana, will be spending another year here at Carroll. He needs some bonus time to finish his classes, mentor, and guide the students of the nursing and ROTC programs.
He’s got the time and the experience to make a real difference.
Born in Kalispell, Montana, Jarvis has spent most of his life in Columbia Falls. In high school, his family moved around, taking him to New Mexico and North Dakota. Jarvis developed a love for running as part of the cross country and track teams.
Towards the end of high school, Jarvis realized he didn’t have much of a plan.
That’s when he began thinking about the possibility of military service. He had no family in the military, that he knew of, but he wanted to give back to his country. Maybe by going into ROTC during college, he could get a degree on top of completing his service.
“Someone’s got to serve, why not me?” said Jarvis.
Now he had a plan.
In his first year at Carroll, Jarvis established himself as a PT stud. He participated in both track and cross country in his freshman year of college. An avid runner, he runs up to six times a week.
What started as a hobby turned into a passion.
He started training his first ultra-run. In the summer after his freshman year, he participated in the Elkhorn 50.
“It was pretty crazy and surreal, I had trained pretty hard, but I was still surprised that I won,” said Jarvis., “I was shooting for 12 hours and ended up doing it in 11.”
The following summer he attempted a 100-mile race, but unfortunately had to drop after mile 63 due to injury. In fall 2024, he ran another 50-mile race near North Fork. The night before the race he called the race organizer to see if he could compete. During this race, he ran the first 30 miles without issue but his injury flared up and diminished his time.
“Going forward I want to keep running,” said Jarvis, “even if I don’t get to the ultra-competitive elite level I dreamed of. I’ve learned it’s not so much about that. It’s more just something I enjoy doing.”
Jarvis has some regrets about enrolling in a 5-year nursing track instead of doing it in just 4 years. But in hindsight, he recognizes that it was still the right move.
After Jarvis graduates in 2027, he will begin his time serving in the US Army.
He hopes to be attached to a special forces unit as a nurse at some point in his career. He doesn’t know if he will stay in the Army after he completes his required time.
He’s also interested in pursuing a career as a nurse practitioner or as a CRNA.
“It would be cool to be able to practice more medicine than just as a regular nurse,” said Jarvis.
He’s keeping options open on getting married and having kids. HBut he knows the years ahead will be extremely busy.
Like all seniors, he’s looking back now. He’s honest about the journey.
“It’s not how I thought it would go,” he said, honestly.
He started with hopes of competitive running, but had to scale back those dreams.
“I’m not a quitting person, but I never guessed I would quit track and cross country,” said Jarvis. “But I’m glad I did.”
Quitting collegiate sports freed up more time for ROTC and nursing. While he grew disconnected from his sports friends, he made lifelong friends among the other cadets.
When reflecting on his time in the nursing program here, Jarvis expressed appreciation for being able to both learn and make a difference in people’s lives. He found some difficulty in managing clinicals and ROTC but it was never anything he couldn’t handle.
Jarvis will spend one more year here at Carroll. The year will be filled with his toughest clinicals while also presenting opportunities to mentor others.
With experience from his four years in ROTC and nursing, he hopes to help develop those who are walking the path he has already tread.
“It’s exciting to be around for another year to mentor the younger guys both in the nursing program and ROTC,” said Jarvis.
