#SoCanU: From Community College to the Ivy League (to med school!)

Featured below is an interview with another #SoCanU project rockstar, Felix! Felix graduated from Atlantic Cape Community College Spring 2014 and will graduate with his bachelor’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania in 2016.

Favorite thing to do on the weekends?
Spending time with friends and family is by far the best way to have fun.

Favorite food/meal? 
I love everything my girlfriend cooks for me.

What made you decide to choose community college?I had no idea what to do with my life and at the time I was not bold enough to apply to any other kind of higher education.

Were there any obstacles in your life prior to attending community college that you had to overcome?
I had to overcome the fact that I had more potential than what I once believed. As a child I never took education serious thus, I felled behind in all subjects. 

I had to work during my community college experience and take 5-7 courses a semester in order to graduate with my three degrees. There were many times I crashed because I believed I was not good enough for this, but man was I wrong.

I stayed extremely focused, a little too focused if you ask me. You see I came to the point that I wanted to understand how I learn and how I can study most effectively. I literally took a semester or two not doing any extracurricular because I had to understand how to ace my courses. 

I consolidated the fact your resume means nothing if you can’t balance your courses. So I remained positive and through my actions, I began to think big instead of small. 

With time and perseverance I managed to learn how time-manage all my courses, work, girlfriend, friends, family, extracurricular, and having a life.

What are you most excited about for your future right now?
I am really excited to apply to medical school. My premed adviser gave me the two thumbs up that I am a very competitive applicant for medical school despite the fact that I began at a community college.

What is the best piece of advice you can give our readers who are currently attending community college?
Do not ever let society make your decisions. Remain humble and do not accept anything life throws at you. Stay definite in all of your aspirations and be ready to have a couple of failures throughout your life. 

But do not take these failures as negative, look at it as a positive to aid you in what you have done wrong in order to improve your future. Have a well-organized plan and stick to them. 

Have a major goal in life and always work hard to obtain and have many minor goals, all in which will lead to your central scheme. Don’t ever blame others for your mistakes and always have full control your mind and use it for great purposes.

#SoCanU Story: A first generation college grad earns six degrees

Inspired by the interest in the #SoCanU project I'll be periodically sharing interviews with some of the contributors so you can be further inspired by where community college can take you.

In these stories you'll find some great advice, obstacles you might be able to relate to, and successes to remind you what is possible.

First up, Don, currently a Programs & Events Coordinator with Maricopa Community Colleges and a graduate of Phoenix College, South Mountain Community College, Ottawa University, and Northern Arizona University. He now has an M.Ed.

What is your favorite thing to do on the weekends?
Spend time at home with family and friends.

Favorite food/meal?
Chocolate!!! LOTS of chocolate (LOL) And, Mexican food, especially cheese enchiladas and chile rellenos.

What made you decide to choose community college?
Costs, smaller class sizes (compared to universities) and more one-on-one with instructors.

Were there any obstacles in your life prior to attending community college that you had to overcome? 
Financial hardship, but was hired as a temporary employee at Phoenix College in my second year attending there and it led to being employed into a full-time position shortly after graduating.

What obstacles did you overcome in community college and/or in your transfer university to achieve your degree?
Being a first-generation college student, and my parents and familia, not familiar with college/university lingo, requirements, etc.

I had to do the whole process on my own and had to "learn the ropes" of how to navigate enrollment, registration, financial aid, etc.

What is one of the most important things that helped you succeed in community college and beyond?
Having one-on-one time with community college faculty that really helped me with my questions with subject materials and college processes.

What are you most excited about for your future right now?
Hopefully get a job promotion into middle management and pondering a doctorate degree.

What is the best piece of advice you can give our readers who are currently attending community college?
Utilize all the resources available to you to make you become a successful student and graduate. Connect with your instructors and student support services available. And, find mentors to guide and counsel with you.

Join the #SoCanU movement here!

CC Grad Kay Atanda's Success Story: From Nigeria to the White House

I just finished writing a feature for the P.S. Blog about an amazing community college student, Kay Atanda, and his incredible journey. I wanted to share it with you here too. :)

“Just call me ‘Kay,’” he said.

“How do you say your real first name?” I asked.

“Olu-wa-da-misi.”

I say it a few times until I get it right. I can hear his infectious smile on the phone.

Kay grew up in Nigeria where he witnessed poverty first hand: “Kids roamed the streets, the rich got richer and the poor got poorer. There wasn’t a middle class,” Kay explains.

Kay felt lucky to be able to attend Redeemers International Secondary School in Nigeria. “We weren’t rich, but my mom always had the optimistic attitude that we could afford the important stuff. If we needed a textbook, she found a way to get it. My mom made us focus on school and she took care of the rest.”

Kay knew what a privilege that was. Daily he saw kids, some even younger than him, sell things on the streets to try to feed themselves and their families.

Kay understood at a young age that many of the problems were due to a poor governmental infrastructure, and he decided to do something about it....Read the rest of the story on the Pearson Students Blog. 

From Teen Mom to NASA Employee (don't read this if you like to make excuses)

I had to share the interview I did with Heather Thomas for the Pearson Students blog. 

Every time I talk to her I'm reminded that anytime I think I'm busy or that life is hard I just need to remember moms. 

Moms who go to college and work amaze me. I was a nanny, and it was HARD work....and I know it was NOTHING compared to being a full-time mom. When I took care of kids I was getting paid and it was the only thing I had to do - it never eluded me that moms have to take care of kids and contend with that thing we call life.

Heather has done this beautifully, and her story and successes are a great reminder that we really can do anything - our only limitations are often the ones we set on ourselves.

Here's Heather's story:

When Heather Thomas was 11 years old she got the news that her mother had been killed by a drunk driver. After her mother’s death she lived with various family members, and the lack of stability and motherly guidance led to her getting pregnant at age 15.

Heather decided to give her baby up for adoption. But immediately after her daughter was born, she changed her mind: “I was in tears saying ‘I wanna keep my baby!’” she shares, laughing at the memory.

At 16 years old Heather decided to take responsibility for her child and her life. She dropped out of high school, got her first apartment, and started working.

At age 18, she was given custody of her younger brother, who was 13 years old at the time; she cared for him and her ailing grandmother.

Heather got married and her husband had a son; she worked multiple full time jobs to provide for her growing family.

Her brother got into trouble, and started having children with different women. Heather and her husband decided to care for the first two children to keep them from going into foster care.... Read the rest of the story on the P.S. Blog.

From Homeless to College Graduate

I recently wrote the following article for the Pearson Students Blog and had to share it with you here too. Arthur's story reminds us what community college is all about, and what you can do when you decide to make more of your life. 

A few days ago I got the following e-mail from Arthur:

My graduation is in the bag! The excitement just hit when I picked up my cap and gown. This college experience has been a real blessing in more ways than I can count.

What’s remarkable about this e-mail is that Arthur was homeless for fifteen years and incarcerated for four before going back to college.

After joining the military and then starting community college in the 70’s, Arthur thought he was ready to start a good life – he had plans to get a PhD.

But life got in the way. After multiple deaths in the family (including his father), a divorce, and bankruptcy, Arthur’s life went on a downward spiral. Read the rest of the article on the P.S.Blog.

A community college success story that may make you appreciate your education a little more

By the age of 10, James had lost his entire family. Find out what he did to get his education in Africa, and how community college changed his life. His story gave me goosebumps. 

CC student succeeds after being pronounced brain dead

I recently had the privilege of interviewing an amazing community college student named Dexter for the Pearson Students Blog and was so inspired by him. I hope you are too:

Dexter Givens II was just enjoying another day of his junior year of high school in Virginia Beach, VA. He was a leader in an honors society and student government. He got good grades and was planning to attend James Madison University after he graduated high school. He had friends. Life was good.

Until it almost ended.... Read the rest of the story here. 

Community College helps student lose 210lbs and get a NASA internship

I met Alexiou Gibson at the Mobilize.org conference in June. In an instant I could tell I was in the presence of someone with incredible heart, determination, and intelligence. 

We recently had a conversation about the intense obstacles he's had to overcome in his college life, and what he did to lose 210 lbs and get a coveted NASA internship. 

This is his incredible story, in his own words: 

Alexiou at his heaviest weight

I was born and raised in the Bahamas, and was always overweight. When I graduated High School I was 520 lbs, my highest weight. Basic things like fitting in a classroom desk were huge obstacles, but I would still go to class everyday, squeezing into desks. I was also diagnosed with sleep apnea because of the weight, which cut my sleeping time in half. My grades suffered because it was so difficult to stay awake. 

Then, one day my doctor sat me down and was very harsh. He said, 'Look, you’re not going to live to see 30, your dream of being a doctor is not going to happen. He was so frank with the reality of my future: 'You are going to get diabetes. You are not going to live past 30.' It was a rude awakening. 

What made you decide to attend community college? 

Since I had a lot of health problems after High School, I needed to stay close to my mom and my doctors. I also felt like a number at big universities. At Palm Beach State College, people smiled and made me feel like I was the only student that mattered. It was the family atmosphere drew me in - I felt like I was a part of something. 

But when I first came to Palm Beach State, I was kind of in my shell. The President of SGA used to bother me every single day about coming to a meeting. I kept saying I would go but never went. I finally went to the very last meeting that semester, and it changed my life completely. 

The following year I got really active in Student Government, Black Student Union, Math Olympic League, PBL, PTK, Saving Our Sons (The College President's group for minority males). I was at school 13 hours per day.

Did you have a job while doing all of this? 

Yes! I lost my financial aid because of my health issues. Every single class I took was paid out of pocket. Once I got involved with SGA I met the SGA advisor who became my mentor. She saw this leadership quality in me that I didn’t see in myself, and would lead me towards opportunities. She helped me get a job working 20 hours per week, driving students around campus in a shuttle. That’s how I paid for classes.

How did you end up losing the weight? 

After the wake-up call from my doctor  I started making small steps. Everything didn’t change overnight and it took me a while to break my poor diet. But the first big step was using the Palm Beach State College gym. I worked out four hours per day, before class and after class. All of a sudden, the gym wasn’t this dark mysterious place -  it actually became a fun place to let off stress. It became a home for me. 

Watching shows like the Biggest Loser was also a huge inspiration for me. Palm Beach State's Wellness Director also became a mentor and offered great tips like keeping a food journal and how to count calories. As a math and engineer guy, I got so good at counting calories that I could look at a friends plate and say what the calories were. Friends would look at me ‘what are you?’ lol. It was like a game to me.

Everything I needed was right on campus. It was so convenient. 

All throughout the process I had regular check ups with my doctor. Pretty soon,  all signs of diabetes disappeared and my sleep apnea went away. 

I shed 210 in 16 months. 

How was school going during all this time? 

School was amazing. I was getting straight A's. During the time I was losing the weight, I was having a perfect semester - getting all A's in classes like chemistry and calculus. 

Until one morning I'll never forget...

It was 2 weeks before our finals; I woke up throwing up non-stop. I called my doctor and he said I was having signs that my appendix  was ruptured and needed to go to the ER.

I had an immediate operation to have my appendix removed, and during surgery, they also found a hernia that had developed in my stomach from squeezing into desks all those years. It would have become cancerous so they removed it immediately, and I was hospitalized for a month.

I missed all of my finals, and my perfect straight-A semester became a straight-W (withdraw) semester. I was going to have to start all over. 

How did you manage to stay so determined through all of these obstacles? 

My mother and grandmother kept me going. Every day of my life they told me “You’re bound to do something great Alex. You have the personality, you have the heart."

Those words meant a lot to me, as internally I was always beating myself up, thinking I wasn't smart enough. But their words were like always having that nagging parent in your ear, in the best way.

My mom would also always say, "If you are a garbageman, just be the best you can be." Seeing how hard my single mom and single grandma worked to raise me, I wanted to pay them back. If all they are asking of me is that I be somebody, give my best, then that was how I was going to repay them. 

How did you get the NASA Internship? 

After the surgery I continued on the right track  - losing weight and focusing on my grades.  One day my student trustee at the college said I should apply for this NASA internship, but deadline was in 2 days. I decided to dedicate myself for the next 48 hours to applying for this experience.

A month later I got a big red bold email that said ‘congratulations!’ I got the internship and NASA would be flying me out to Alabama to build a prototype rover for Mars with a $125 million dollar budget.

I called my mom and was screaming and crying over the phone - I couldn't believe I had gotten it. It was already a big deal to me, but at the time I didn't realize how big of a deal it really was until my phone started blowing up with with calls from TV and news reports. My mom was even getting calls! 

Alexiou at NASA

What did you love most about the NASA internship experience? 

The highlight for me was meeting up with other students who were also very interested in the same thing I was. We had so much in common.

At first I was doubting myself as usual. But when it came time for our group to chose our presentation leader, they chose me. 

Note from me: Under his leadership, Alexiou's team scored 27 out of 28 on their presentation; the other groups scored between 10-12. 

Where can readers apply for this internship with NASA?

Its called the National Community College Aerospace Scholars (NCAS) program. I've actually already helped two of my friends get in by showing them the steps to apply. If any of your readers would like advice on the application, they can definitely e-mail me at alexiougibson@gmail.com.

Alexiou just graduated from Palm Beach State College with his AA, and was awarded the Martin Luther King Leadership award. He is heading to the University of Florida this August to complete his BS, and then plans to graduate with his Masters of Science in Biomedical Engineering or go to medical school. 

While in his undergrad, Alexiou will take advantage of the co-op opportunity offered to all NCAS scholars. Over three semesters, he will work a paid internship with NASA for college credit, and is guaranteed a job with NASA when he graduates. 

Alexiou (left) accepting the MLK Leadership Award

What do you hope to do after all of this? 

Ultimately, I want to become a doctor and do research. I’ve always had an inventors mind, and my goal in life is to leave something that can change mankind for the better (e.g a better catscan, a better prothsthetic). I want someone to be able to say 'Alexiou invented this and my life is better because of it'. 

Alexiou has been asked to share his motivational story at high schools in his local area, and you can contact him about speaking at alexiougibson@gmail.com. You can also check out his YouTube channel. 

Wherever you are in your life, I hope you are inspired by Alexiou as I was. His story speaks for itself. In three words - never give up. 

My community college success story speech

Debuting the first ever video of one of my speeches. This one features clips of my community college success story as I thank the 800 faculty and staff who made it possible. You can also view it and testimonials at isaadney.com =)