For Samford University online student JD Roland, college and career have rarely followed separate paths.
One week might involve completing coursework. The next could take him behind a camera at a professional sporting event, across the country for a client or overseas to capture content for an emerging brand.
Through Samford Online, Roland has found a way to keep both moving forward.
After beginning his Samford experience as a traditional, residential student, Roland stepped away from college as opportunities in videography and content creation increasingly demanded his time. He wasn't certain he would have the chance to return.
Today, he's back at Samford, this time online, while simultaneously building a videography business that has taken him around the United States and abroad.
"It's really difficult to try to balance all of that," Roland said. "But I can come home, get what I have to do with school done, get what I have to do with editing done and then get back to networking."
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Roland's interest in cameras began long before he arrived at Samford. As a child, he remembers his grandmother giving him cameras to experiment with. During a family trip to Utah and Grand Teton National Park, he began looking at photography and videography differently.
"I came back and was like, 'You know what? I really want to do this,'" Roland said.
By high school, he was creating sports content from the sidelines and seeking opportunities to develop his skills independently. When it came time to choose a university, Samford's Christian mission was an important part of his decision.
Roland initially enrolled as a journalism and mass communication major, seeing the program as an opportunity to build upon his growing interest in media. His time on campus also provided opportunities to experience live sports production firsthand.
Working with Samford Athletics, Roland helped with ESPN+ broadcasts for basketball, volleyball and other sporting events, gaining experience operating cameras and seeing how live sports productions come together behind the scenes.
"Just being around all the production was really cool," Roland said.
Even before college, Roland had developed a habit that would become central to his career: reaching out.
He proactively contacted athletes, photographers, organizations and potential clients looking for opportunities to learn and create. One of those connections was former NFL player Tre Boston. After consistently staying in contact, Roland eventually connected with Boston professionally, leading to opportunities surrounding HBCU football and other sports and entertainment projects.
What began with one opportunity gradually became a network.
Roland has since created content involving professional athletes, sports and entertainment, gaming, emerging businesses and other clients. His work has brought him into professional sports environments and taken him across the United States and internationally, including recent projects in Barcelona and Madrid.
For Roland, building relationships has been just as important as capturing the footage.
"I just want to be there, hang out with the guys, see what their personality is, but then also get my job done," he said.
As those opportunities increased, balancing a traditional college experience with his professional ambitions became more difficult. Eventually, Roland stepped away from Samford.
His time away included a move to Miami, where he pursued sales while continuing to seek videography opportunities. Although the experience did not unfold exactly as he anticipated, Roland said it strengthened something increasingly important to his career: his ability to communicate.
"If I can talk this much about something I barely know about, how much can I talk about something that I truly do know about?" he recalled thinking.
For Roland, the answer was filmmaking.
He eventually returned home and continued expanding his portfolio, working with athletes and brands while learning how to navigate the challenges of entrepreneurship. Still, his college education remained unfinished.
During a period of prayer and fasting with his church, Roland began seriously thinking about returning to school.
"I just felt the Lord saying, 'Let's try school again,'" he said.
Samford Online provided him with a way forward.
The flexibility of online Organizational Leadership courses allows Roland to continue his education while navigating a professional schedule that can change quickly and require significant travel. He manages his course load intentionally, sometimes completing assignments before leaving for a project and returning home to balance coursework with editing and other responsibilities.
His studies have also complemented questions he encounters professionally, particularly as he thinks beyond creating strong video content to helping clients use that content effectively on social media.
"I can shoot all this cool stuff, but how do I really help grow your page?" Roland said.
His professional ambitions continue to grow. Roland is now focused on building a team of editors and other creatives who can expand the capacity of his business while pursuing larger commercial projects.
For someone whose professional life can take him from Birmingham to a sports sideline or an international shoot, returning to college did not mean abandoning the momentum he had already built.
Instead, Samford Online has given Roland the flexibility to pursue both.
His path looks considerably different from the one he imagined when he first arrived on campus. But as he continues building his business and working toward his Samford degree, Roland is demonstrating that returning to college doesn't always mean returning to the same path.
Sometimes, it means finding a new one.
