Category: TRIO Student of the Month

SC4 student finds college success in TRIO program

When Mikayla Phetteplace decided to restart her college career in 2018, she attended an orientation session for the TRIO program. With a six-month-old baby girl, Mikayla’s schedule wasn’t flexible enough for on-campus classes and she was going to need some help getting back into the swing of college classes. SC4’s TRIO Student Support Services program looked like a great choice.

“After [the TRIO] orientation, I had an advising appointment,” Mikayla explains. “The advisor highly recommended TRIO. I was amazed at the opportunities and benefits of being in the program, so I didn’t hesitate to fill out the application.”

Mikayla has been in the TRIO program for five semesters, and she’s sure she wouldn’t have had the success she’s had at SC4 without it. “Shawne (Jowett, then-TRIO advisor and current Interim Director of the program) kept me on track and made sure that the classes I was taking were online and needed for me to graduate. The early enrollment opportunity and the tutoring were the services I benefited from the most.”

With a full-time job and family responsibilities, Mikayla’s biggest challenge is time, and the help provided by her instructors and the TRIO team has been essential. “There are never enough hours in the day,” she says. “I have found that the trick to having the time is making it. It has seemed impossible sometimes, but things always get accomplished by the deadline. I try to remind myself to breathe and always ask for help when I need it.”

While it was important that she was able to complete her associate degree in computer information systems completely online, being able to travel 30 minutes to campus if she needed additional help was also important to Mikayla’s success. “SC4 is local, so unlike some online schools where literally everything is done online, if I need to come to campus I can.”

Mikayla has had support from many SC4 faculty and staff, but she is particularly thankful for the support of three people. “I’m most grateful for Professor Colleen Forsgren. She has been the most supportive, informational, and just all-around the best professor I’ve had at SC4. I’ve learned so much under her instruction,” Mikayla says. “I’m also grateful to Amy (Hengehold, TRIO Support Staff Member) and Shawne. They’re both so wonderful.”

Because of her overall success at SC4 and the impact that the college’s TRIO SSS program has had on her, Mikayla is the TRIO Student of the Month for September 2020.

Mikayla is planning to graduate in December with her associate degree, and eventually hopes to transfer to a university to complete her bachelor’s degree. She currently works as an administrative assistant and she and her husband hoping to buy a home in the area to give their daughter a place to grow up in and enjoy.

“TRIO has been one of the brightest spots of my college career,” Mikayla says. “There is nothing not to like about TRIO. They are helpful, kind, supportive, and always there if anyone has questions or concerns.”

TRIO student keeps a focus on big goals

Nelson Thorn has big goals, but it hasn’t always been easy to keep moving toward them. Loss of close relatives and the financial burdens of being an independent student have meant that he’s had to keep focused on what he wants to accomplish in life. Fortunately, SC4’s TRIO program has been there to help, along with many other sources of support and encouragement on campus.

Initially, Thorn was attracted to the flexibility SC4’s nursing programs offered to students.

“I chose SC4 because of the programs, class sizes, resources, and student involvement,” he said. “And with the addition of the student housing, I had a place to call home for my first year. (Manager of college housing) Nathanial Shrapnell helped me tremendously.”

When personal difficulties happened, Thorn turned to SC4 campus resources for help.

“One of the hardest barriers to face was losing a few relatives. The staff and my professors helped me to stay in school and keep up my grade point average. And then I applied to the TRIO program.”

“TRIO gave me more personalized, hands-on help. I was struggling with deciding a major and planning my transfer pathway, and TRIO supported me in my academic success,” Thorn said. “I was also interested in the events TRIO holds for its students, including college tours, concerts, plays, and volunteer experiences.”

Thorn has plenty of people to thank for his success as a student at SC4, starting with TRIO staff support Amy Hengehold and director Jessica Brown and especially his TRIO advisor Shawne Jowett.

“I don’t know if I would be graduating without her help!” he said. Others who have been particularly inspirational are his first academic advisor Stacy Healy, SC4’s coordinator of student activities and services Sherry Artman, director of behavioral intervention and support services David Goetze, and Testing Center staff members Kim Heering and Kelly Lindsay.

“They have been unconditionally supportive and have been mentors to me, from just talking with me and allowing me to express myself to helping me find additional support and resources,” Thorn explained. “And special thanks to my friends who have become family and have been my rock for the past two years.”

Thorn plans to transfer to the University of Michigan to pursue bachelor’s degrees in psychology and business administration, with a concentration in entrepreneurship. He’d also like to complete a master’s degree before he turns 30.

He recommends TRIO to anyone who’s eligible for the program. “With longer advising appointments, support services, and tutoring, any college student would find TRIO beneficial.”

TRIO program student well-positioned for career success

St. Clair County Community College’s accounting program, along with the college’s proximity to home and student-to-instructor ratio, attracted student Jessica Gottschalk to SC4’s campus.

The Imlay City High School graduate first enrolled at SC4 in 2002, earning her Associate of Arts in 2006. She recently came back to the college to earn an Associate of Applied Arts & Sciences in General Business and is taking advantage of the college’s TRIO program, among other campus opportunities.

“A friend of mine spoke highly of the TRIO program, so I thought I would check it out,” Gottschalk said. “I like the tutoring option and the lab dedicated to just TRIO students. Both resources are major advantages.”

She added, “I would recommend TRIO to a classmate, particularly if they were feeling overwhelmed at the prospect of subjects that they were required to take. I was most concerned with Excel Spreadsheets and Federal Income Tax classes, and it helped to know that there is a tutor available that is a practicing accountant.”

In addition to the TRIO program, Gottschalk is grateful for the assistance she has received across SC4’s campus.

“I am thankful for all the amazing staff members that take the time to get to know the students and make sure that we are aware of all the resources available to us,” she said. “Many instructors will go the extra mile to make sure that we understand the course material, and that helps immensely.”

Gottschalk, who also credits her personal support system made up of family and friends, said she appreciates SC4’s many learning spaces.

“The Experience Center and Natural Science Museum in the Clara E. Mackenzie building is my favorite place on campus, other than the library,” she said. “I’m not taking any science classes, but I love science and I will make detours to wander through there from time to time.”

Moving forward, Gottschalk is excited about a number of potential options after earning her degree from SC4.

“I’m considering pursuing additional degrees in accounting and business management,” she said. “I have been interested in opening a bookstore downtown for quite some time, and that’s still a thought and possible goal. For now, though, I will be looking for work in bookkeeping, payroll and any other office type jobs to put this degree to use.”

TRIO student finds a new path forward at SC4

Employed for more than 10 years installing commercial fences, Thomas Short learned he was without a job when his company went under.

“I had to start over,” Short said. “I tried to find another steady job but a lot of the outdoor jobs I was qualified for are not steady and can end at any time.”

Due to the loss of his financial stability, Short says he began heading down a rough path, abusing substances and making bad decisions.

“After I lost my house, I was staying at my mother’s house and, with every day getting worse than the previous day, I knew something had to change,” he said. “I thought about what kind of example I was setting for my children and decided that I would show them the example that I want them to follow.”

Short set out to earn his G.E.D, which took about three or four months. He then was asked if he was going to pursue college.

“That was something I had never thought about,” Short said. “Again thinking about my children, I decided to show them that ‘Dad can do it and so can you.’”

Short enrolled at St. Clair County Community College in 2018 and applied for the TRIO program.

“The last time I attended any kind of school was in the eighth grade,” he said. “When I came to college, I was super nervous about the process and had no clue how a system like this was supposed to work. I heard that TRIO was known for its academic planning.”

Since then, TRIO has helped Short plan and register for classes and generally stay on track. TRIO also provided support services that Short never anticipated.

“TRIO made me feel like part of something bigger than myself,” Short said. “They gave me confidence, and I feel the self-confidence I gained reflected directly into my grades. Trio took the butterflies and self-doubt out of being a brand-new college student, and I am sincerely grateful for the program.”

In addition to the TRIO program, Short says he’s very thankful for the support he’s found in his SC4 professors.

“I have been honored to learn from the most caring and helpful professors that a student could ask for,” he said. “The one-on-one attention has really shown the advantage of a community college. I am grateful for all of my professors, but a few that really stand out for me: Professor Lubbers, who taught me to be more outgoing as a student; Instructor Gentry, who taught me that if I do something great don’t be afraid to let people know that I’ve done something great; and Professor Forsgren and Professor Collard, who challenged my way of thinking and pushed me to challenge myself harder than I ever thought I was capable of.”

Thanks to support from his professors and TRIO, Short continues his forward momentum toward a new career.

“My goal is to get into a steady career in technology so I won’t have to worry about where my children’s next meal will come from,” he said. “Also, part of the reason I started college was to provide a good example for my children to follow and learn from. The ultimate goal is to ready my children for a better future than I was on the way to providing them before. Now here I am, full speed ahead and will never look back.”