As Joshua Landreth walked across the stage at Grand Canyon University’s Spring 2025 Commencement last week, he did not just celebrate the completion of a degree in homeland security and emergency management. He honored a 25-year-long journey filled with detours, discipline, deployments and a whole lot of determination.
Landreth, a U.S. Navy submariner based in Hawaii, first began his college journey in 2000 with dreams of pursuing sports medicine. But the transition from high school to college proved challenging.
After facing academic probation at Yuba College, he decided to reset at Santa Rosa Junior College, eventually shifting his focus from kinesiology to criminal justice – a path inspired by his law enforcement family.
“I come from a law enforcement background,” Landreth said. “My dad was with the California Highway Patrol for 28 years. My uncle, my father-in-law, even his brother – they all served in law enforcement. It seemed like a natural path.”
But as newlyweds, Landreth and his wife realized they needed more financial stability. That’s when he turned to the military.
“I joined the Navy in 2005 to provide for my wife and support both of us finishing our degrees,” Landreth said. “Since then, I’ve served on three submarines and completed 18 deployments.”
While serving, Landreth continued to pursue his education but not without hurdles. He enrolled in Kaplan University (now Purdue Global), only to be caught in a class-action lawsuit that delayed his progress. Then came years of high-demand deployments and missed academic windows.
It wasn’t until a college fair in Honolulu for daughter Aurora that Landreth rediscovered the opportunity to finish what he started.
“I wasn’t even looking for a school for myself,” he said. “But I walked into the fair, and the GCU booth was the first one on the left. I saw ‘Homeland Security and Emergency Management’ on the banner – and that grabbed me. That’s when the pieces finally started falling into place.”
He applied, was accepted and started classes in May 2023, using tuition assistance through the military. Landreth completed his degree this April, just in time to walk at spring commencement.
“Being able to finally finish a goal I set 25 years ago is huge,” he said. “I’ve had a full life in between – marriage, kids, deployments – and now I get to finish strong and set that example for my daughters.”
His student services counselor was one of the many people supporting him throughout his journey.
“With the military, my schedule’s always changing,” Landreth said. “But she kept me on track, responded to emails quickly, and helped me keep moving forward.”
Another encourager was family friend and GCU alumna Mia Sakasegawa, who played beach volleyball at GCU before graduating with her master’s of business administration in 2018.
“Josh has consistently stood out as a devoted husband and father, someone whose faith is not just spoken, but lived out in every part of his life,” Sakasegawa said.
“When I found out Josh was starting classes at GCU, I was so excited for him,” she said. “Knowing how much he has on his plate – serving full-time in the military while remaining fully present with his family – I knew this would be a challenge, but one he was more than capable of meeting. And he did, with grace and perseverance.”
One of the most meaningful parts of Landreth's GCU journey was watching it inspire his daughter, Aurora.
“She had her heart set on art school and had already been accepted to her top choice, Savannah College of Art and Design,” Landreth said. “But while I was on a Navy trip in January, my wife encouraged her to just check out GCU. She applied while I was gone and was accepted. During her Discover GCU trip, she attended a worship night and told us, ‘I felt God saying, this is where I belong.’”
Sakasegawa is thrilled for Aurora as well.
“I’m absolutely stoked for their oldest daughter,” she said. “Knowing the foundation her parents have built, I have no doubt she’ll thrive and continue to shine brightly for Christ on campus.”
As for what’s next, Landreth retires from the military this year and hopes to enter the emergency management field. He’s already been accepted into GCU’s Master of Science in Leadership program with an emphasis in Homeland Security and Emergency Management, beginning this June.
“I have three daughters, one graduating high school this month, and my youngest is 10. So I’m not really retiring. I still have a lot of work ahead of me,” Landreth said.
But for now, the Landreths are celebrating a shared moment of achievement. All five family members flew to Phoenix for commencement, including Landreth’s mother.
“Don’t stop pushing for your dreams,” he said. “Life will distract you. It will knock you down. But even if it takes longer than you expected, keep going. Keep showing up. You’ll get there.”
GCU student writer Leandra Lepp can be reached at leandra.lepp@gcu.edu.
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