The University of Phoenix.

A forklift driver whose career goal got sidetracked has been awarded a Master of Business Administration degree scholarship by an American university and a Utah business journal.

Maryann Sampson Alston originally dreamed of becoming a medical doctor but a family crisis took her on a different path, Deseret Morning News reported.

Alston helped her father, Lance Sampson, run his construction equipment business. She drove a forklift, fixed broken tools and met tax requirements and, in five years, grew Sampson Equipment, in Murray, Salt Lake County, by more than 200%.

The University of Phoenix Utah Campus and Utah business journal The Enterprise have awarded her a USD5,000 scholarship.