William Hill DNP is passionate about making a difference in his community and among his peers. He was a proud service member of the United States Navy for 13 years. Being in the Navy provided William with more opportunities to learn and grow. It gave him a reason to go to military drills on the weekends and make extra money while taking advantage of the opportunities afforded to him as a serviceman.

In 2010, while still in the Navy, William enrolled in school to become a phlebotomist and received his certification in Louisiana. He then joined a nursing program and continued working as a student nurse and a phlebotomist during weekends and evenings.

The nursing program gave him the opportunity to transition into being a patient care tech at the VA hospital. He continued working full-time and attended nursing school until he was deployed to Afghanistan in the Navy Reserves for the last years of his deployment, from 2013 to 2014.

William Hill was determined to finish his college career while on deployment. He skipped a year of college while in the Navy Reserves but returned and did not fail any courses. Despite battling PTSD during this time, William persevered and graduated with his nursing degree in 2015.

Growing up in a rural community, he was determined to make something of himself - the first generation from his family to attend and graduate from college. After graduation, his determination and steadfast approach to life led him to an incredible career as an ICU nurse.

His parents were humble chicken farmers who instilled the value of hard work within him when he didn’t have much. William recognized that he had few opportunities where he grew up, and the school was his way of giving back and helping provide more job opportunities. This motivation led him to open his school Uncharted Territory Solutions, in 2019.

“There’s always something that will come up; staying determined and realizing what my actual goal is, is what gave me motivation.”

William was determined to continue his college career and never gave up. For each new degree, there were unique obstacles and challenges to be faced. “There’s always something that will come up; staying determined and realizing what my actual goal is, is what gave me motivation” William said.

When the COVID-19 pandemic began, Williams's military training kicked in, and he treated the disaster like his deployment. After his experience in Afghanistan, he felt mentally prepared to do all he could to help. Using his government connections, he traveled all over the country where COVID-19 was the worst and worked as a COVID ICU RN.