The of ORU Journey Graduate

Sean O'Brien

From Jazz Musician to Purple Heart Recipient to IT Pro

Every person who has been in the surrounding of Oral Roberts University, and even the ones in ORU has experienced a spirit-empowering culture. Some say, "It's the magic of ORU!" while some say, "That's what ORU does to its people."

People from different backgrounds have different experiences. Although it all goes back to how wonderfully spiritually-empowering ORU is to start with.

Another example of ORU's Marvel unravels goes through the journey of a jazz musician, inially, who later became a member of the military. And not just the military, for that maer but the United States Army Band.

Undoubtedly, it raises the queson, Sean O'Brien , an accomplished jazz guitarist, got a Purple Heart.

How is a jazz musician associated with the US Army and is a Purple Heart Recipient and eventually turns an IT expert? Well, it is definitely!

Without further ado, let's follow the journey and know more!

Talking about music and listening to music is one the most popular forms of leisure among teenagers and also everyone who loves to indulge in music for exploring various genres of music.

Music ain't something that would automacally pop into our minds when we think about the military. However, most people back then, most people didn't think about the United States Army Band, which provides an interesng form of leisure for musical support for U.S. leadership and serves the naon through music.

Being an already accomplished jazz guitarist, Sean started his military career as a member of the Army Band, where he toured the country and performed for dignitaries. But then 9/11 happened, and Sean's career as a musician took a backseat to his calling as a soldier.

Explaining his career trajectory, he says, "I was kind of disenchanted" he adds, "As there was a percepon that musicians weren't soldiers. I didn't agree with this. For me, it was me to go!" he exclaims.

On the way to entering the military, he states, "So, I entered officer candidate school, trained at Fort Benning in Georgia, and was selected to be an arllery officer."

Sacrifice

in the Line of Duty

Eventually, Sean found himself in Southern Afghanistan, serving as a Fire Direcon Officer and Platoon Leader .

Sean's service there had him dealing with border problems, doing reconnaissance, and supporng humanitarian efforts, all of it in a very dangerous place.

And this danger became a terrifying reality when Sean's Humvee drove over and detonated an improvised explosive device.

Sean menons, "All of a sudden, everything went black, not figuravely, but literally, there was no sunlight. The explosion vaporized our engine, so it doesn't make any sense that we all survived."

Thanking God through his survival, he states, "Looking back, God's hand moved in a lot of these terrible situaons, more mes than I can count."

For his bravery and his injuries, Sean received the Purple Heart , presented to service members who have been wounded or killed as a result of enemy acon.

Sean connued serving in the military. However, he eventually returned to the U.S. and began selling cars in Tulsa. Nevertheless, a chance visit to the ORU campus changed his career course on a huge level.

Menoning his wife, Sean said, "My wife was aending another university, but she didn't like it. Around that me, we stopped by ORU's College Weekend just to say hello to a friend. While we were there, we met a lot of great people, and they were all extremely welcoming."

Finding a Passion for IT

Talking about returning to college, Sean menons his wife joining ORU. He states, "Shortly aer, my wife enrolled at ORU." And a semester later, Sean joined her as an ORU CIT student.

Being a student, Sean loved ORU's Compung and Mathemacs Department . Soon he noced that ORU had a lot more he says, "It was more than that and he loved ORU's Spirit-Empowered Culture."

Exceedingly more to the ORU's appraisal, "The aenon to love and excellence." It is an impeccably wonderful part of ORU anyone would experience. Sean menons the experience saying, "You'll find it everywhere on campus. ORU students legimately idenfy with God. It isn't something they're being told to do. Seeing the gis of the Spirit at work, feeling the mantle of Christ upon this place, it's all part of the culture at ORU."

In 2015, ORU made a long-term commitment to technological growth with its construcon of the awardwinning Global Learning Center. Since then, ORU has expanded further into the areas of virtual reality, global educaon, and medical training.

Talking about the enormous expansion of ORU, Sean states, "This expansion is the result of a forward-thinking department that constantly explores next-generaon technologies."

In the year 2022, Sean and his wife graduated with ORU's Class of 2022 , and aerward, Sean began working in ORU's IT Department. As an IT professional, Sean now contributes to the University's growing technology footprint.

With great pride, working in ORU and its expansion, he says, "We're currently examining the Metaverse to connect distant people in digital spaces. And with the support of a recent partnership with the Foundaon for Advancing Pediatric Orthopaedics ."

Sean adds, "ORU is now supporng virtual reality educaon in the pediatric orthopedic field." Furthermore, he says, "We're always looking around the corner to see what new technologies are rolling out."

Throughout the course of Sean's journey, he depicts a transion from a musician, then a soldier and now a technologist.

Sean sees his journey from Afghanistan to ORU as the answer to a very important queson - "What do you want me to do, God?"

In the quest to find an answer to that, Sean says, "The way I see things, God's got me!" He adds, "Some soldiers, when they leave the military, have their identy stripped away. However, when you have an identy in Christ, and now with the knowledge of the fundamental basis for everything."

While concluding, he states, "All of a sudden, stuff falls into line. Ulmately, God's going to put you in the place where He needs you most.”