Jaiden Picot Earns MBA from VUU

05.2026

With the help of a wearable robotic exoskeleton, Jaiden Picot walked across the stage on May 9 to receive his MBA from Virginia Union University.

Two years ago, Jaiden’s life changed in an instant when the e-scooter he was riding collided with another vehicle. The result: a C4 spinal, rendering Jaiden paralyzed from the neck down.

After completing his bachelor’s degree on schedule last year, he immediately enrolled in graduate school, ultimately earning his master’s.

“I didn’t want my accident to have control over my life,” Jaiden said. “I didn’t want it to stop me from still achieving the goals that I set before. So that’s why it was really important to me to achieve it, even though my life has changed.”

Since his injury, Jaiden has participated in intensive rehabilitation at Sheltering Arms Institute to regain independence. His journey from barely being able to move his arms to now earning a master’s degree serves as a testament to his resilience and the power of advanced rehabilitative medicine.

“Something I learned along the way is that we all can do hard things,” Jason said. “I want to be an inspiration to people like me and to let them know that you still can do what the average person does. You can be independent and chase your dreams.”

At the commencement exercise earlier this month, physiologists from Sheltering Arms assisted Picot as he utilized a robotic exoskeleton to walk across the stage at VUU’s Sydney Lewis School of Business.