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A Degree Worth the Journey to Jax State

Alaskan student Chaz Sample trusted what he read on Reddit-and found an MBA worth traveling 4,200 miles to celebrate.

by By Brett Buckner

Jacksonville, AL (07/31/2026) — When Chaz Sample decided to pursue a master's degree, he didn't start with glossy brochures, campus tours, or carefully curated university websites.

"I went to Reddit," Sample said. "You can go to Rate My Professor. You can go to all these blogs and whatnot, but I think Reddit is the best because people are anonymous.

"Anonymous people feel like they can speak their truth."

Sample first discovered Jacksonville State University (Jax State) while scrolling through Reddit threads where strangers consistently praised the university. Their firsthand experiences carried more weight than any university brochure ever could.

"Out of all people's experience, they just really liked JSU," Sample said. "People who were remote. People who were visiting the campus, and all the events that they went through. It just spoke to me."

Those anonymous voices ultimately guided the 26-year-old Anchorage resident to enroll in Jax State's fully online MBA program at a university he had never visited.

In fact, Sample's first trip to campus will come this summer, when he intends to make the journey from Alaska to Alabama to walk across the stage at Jax State's commencement ceremony and accept the degree he earned from roughly 4,200 miles away.

"If you finish something," Sample said, "I think it's worthy enough to celebrate."

Sample describes himself as a "military brat" who was born in Japan and raised in Alaska where his father was stationed. He has lived in Anchorage for much of his life, long enough that the state's vastness, isolation, and extremes feel normal, even if they don't to anyone else.

"It's hard for me to fathom anything else because I've just been here my whole life," he said. "But I know to other people Alaska is like this 'other' place."

Sample's first experience in the South came while attending Barry University in Florida, where he earned bachelor's degrees in Sport Management and Business Administration.

"I do just like the Southern hospitality," he said, laughing. "After being in Florida, I knew I wanted to stay in the South somewhere."

As he researched graduate programs, he focused on Southern schools that fit his budget without compromising academic quality.

"Through all my research, JSU was top five," Sample said.

Unlike his undergraduate years, Sample entered Jax State's MBA program while working full time as a legal processor at Credit Union 1 in Anchorage. Balancing a full-time job and graduate school is difficult for any student, but the three-hour time difference between Alaska and Alabama created an additional challenge.

"Balancing a full-time job with graduate school is definitely a challenge," he said. "I get off at 6 p.m. and assignments are due at midnight. So, I have until 9 p.m. to submit it. There was a lot of time-zone math."

This forced Sample to develop a new rhythm.

"I had to work a day early," he said. "If I had a test, I basically had to do it a day early."

Before Jax State, Sample's only experience with online learning came during the COVID-19 pandemic, when he returned home to Alaska while remaining enrolled at Barry. But being fully immersed in Jax State's online format was a relief.

"I never had to join classes," he said. "Everything would be either, 'Hey, read the textbook, watch this lecture, or complete this assignment. Here is a discussion board so you can talk amongst yourselves.'"

One course stood out by incorporating a business simulation in which Sample and four classmates made strategic decisions for a fictional company.

"I actually felt like I got the college experience of that," he said. "That's what I loved about JSU and the teacher, they never made me feel like I was missing out on anything."

Southern hospitality, delivered digitally

For Sample, the biggest surprise wasn't the coursework, it was the people.

Kellee Moses, director of Jax State's MBA program, remembers Sample for his curiosity.

"Chaz can definitely be described as inquisitive," Moses said. "That really allowed me to dig into the 'Why' behind each question so my answers weren't just correct, but actually useful and aligned with where he was trying to go."

Most of their communication happened over email, with the occasional Teams call. But even with the distance-not to mention the time difference-Moses said working with Sample never felt overly difficult.

"We just made it work," she said. "Even if I was just getting started with my day and he was already well into his."

For Sample, that support never went unnoticed.

"Ms. Moses and Jax State faculty treated my pathway to graduation, along with my many questions, like it was important to them as well," he said. "Every time I called in with a question, it would be answered with enthusiasm."

And then there were the weather conversations.

During one semester, Anchorage experienced recordbreaking snowfall. Meanwhile, Moses was in Alabama without "so much as a flurry," she said. "It definitely kept things interesting and reminded us just how different our daytoday environments were."

Moses especially appreciated Sample's forwardthinking approach to class.

"Every time we talked, he was already a step or two down the road," she said. "That made it easy for me to connect him with the right resources at the right time."

His planning paid off. JSU's MBA program runs on a fastpaced, sevenweek course schedule, and Sample intentionally loaded up on classes in the spring and scaled back in the fall to balance work and life.

"That forwardthinking mindset really helped him stay on track," Moses said.

Whether he eventually pursues law school, sports marketing, or another path entirely, Sample hopes his education will ultimately benefit the place he's always called home.

"So many kids feel like they have to leave home in order to make a name for themselves," he said. "People feel like, 'Hey, I can't make it out of Alaska because we're Alaska. No one really cares about us.'"

At Barry, classmates often called him simply "Alaska" instead of his name, which reinforced his desire to make Alaska appear less foreign to outsiders.

"I definitely want to bring a little bit of normalization to it," he said. "I want people to feel like they have the same chance as someone in the Lower 48 does."

About Jacksonville State University: Founded in 1883 as a state teachers' college, Jacksonville State University has grown from humble beginnings into the Alabama regional university with the highest percentage of accredited programs. Located in the Appalachian foothills midway between Birmingham and Atlanta, Jax State offers more than 150 courses of study, including over 40 online programs, at the undergraduate and graduate levels. To learn more, visit www.jsu.edu, call 1-800-231-JAX1, or e-mail jaxfacts@jsu.edu.

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