Posted: August 11, 2020
When Northwest College alumna Mechelle Rivera took her first biology class in college in the early ‘90s, she eyed the diagrams of cells in the classroom and could only think, “I am so glad I am not going into the medical field.”
But it wasn’t because she was uninterested or disliked the material.
“I didn’t have the confidence in myself that I could do what it takes to work in the medical field,” said Rivera, who is now a registered nurse at the Public Health Office in Sheridan, Wyoming.
Reflecting on her past experiences with academics, much has changed for Rivera since her high school graduation in 1986.
“I don’t know how I graduated from high school,” she said. “When I look back at my transcripts, my GPA was extremely low. I didn’t think I was college material—it wasn’t even in my realm of reality.”
However, things began to change when she received an AmeriCorps stiped a few years later and decided to attend school at Northwest College.
Intending to study elementary education, she enrolled in introductory English and math classes.
After earning enough credits, Rivera spent the next 13 years as a paraeducator, working with high-need students. Though she always knew she had a passion for helping and caring for others, it was during the last few years of her career she felt compelled to make a big change: nursing school.
But in order to apply, she knew she needed a slew of science courses. Without hesitation, she dove in headfirst, enrolling in anatomy and physiology, biology and chemistry.
“With each of those science classes that I took, my self-confidence grew,” Rivera explained.
As she begins the third year of her nursing career in Sheridan, she remains committed to giving back through the “Stethoscopes for Students” program, which allows NWC alumni and friends to purchase a stethoscope and blood pressure cuff for incoming nursing students.
“The stethoscopes are valuable because they’re an essential tool that students need,” she said. “It’s a very thoughtful and important gift from the Foundation.”
Knowing there are many students reluctant to attend nursing school, Rivera offers some advice to those considering a career in healthcare: stick with it.
“It’s going to be the hardest couple years that you’ve ever put into anything, but it’s worth it.”
She also encourages students to discover how they learn best while working through prerequisite courses, knowing that it’s important to sometimes approach new material from a different angle.
Everyone learns differently, she explained. Rivera experienced her own difficulties, especially when beginning her prerequisite courses.
“In order to understand something, I had to review, and review and review,” she explained. “It left me feeling a little discouraged.”
But one day, after sharing her frustration with her professor Mathew Osborne, NWC instructor of biology, he told her about an intelligent, highly-respected professor he once had in college. This professor shared with Osborne that he achieved his career goals with hard work and dedication to academics—not by natural ability.
“That story made me realize that the way I learn is OK and normal—this is just how I learn,” Rivera said. “It kept me from wanting to just quit.”
As she progressed through school, Rivera found that same level of care and understanding in the nursing faculty as well.
“Their doors are always open,” she said.
Reflecting on what she learned at NWC, she’s put her skills to the test during the coronavirus pandemic.
Most recently, Rivera’s been contact tracing, which is the process of supporting patients and warning contacts of exposure in order to stop chains of COVID-19 transmission. In doing so, she’s been able to use her interview and therapeutic communication skills learned in the nursing program at NWC.
Though she’s already earned one degree, Rivera has no plans of slowing down any time soon when it comes to her education.
In fact, she’s already half way through her Bachelor of Science in Nursing.
“Everything that I went through got me to the point of becoming a nurse,” she said. “Nursing hasn’t changed me, but the path has.”