For Mesa Community College nursing graduate Spencer Stott, the decision to attend MCC was mostly all about convenience, but it soon became much more.
“I discovered how much I loved the place—the teachers, the students and the atmosphere—just everything,” Stott said.
Stott started out as a pre-med major, but switched to nursing. The day he entered the nursing program, everything fell into place.
“I was allowed to start and finish my only remaining prerequisite (pathophysiology) for the nursing program in the summer, and complete it in four weeks, which made it possible to jump into the concurrent enrollment program (CEP) for nursing the following semester,” Stott said. “The CEP allows you to earn your bachelor’s degree while working through your associate degree.”
Stott, who always struggled with attention issues, was enthusiastic about the program, but began to fall behind in his studies. An astute teacher spoke with him and soon he was diagnosed with ADD, allowing him to receive assistance from several sources, scholastic and medicinal. He also decided to join a study group who worked together to complete the program.
“We filled in each other's weakness and lifted one another until the end,” Stott said. “I ended up passing all four blocks without a repeat (which seemed impossible to my early instructors, I’m sure), and stair-stepping, grade wise, upward (C,C,B,B), which was another goal of mine, that I might prove to future schools that I was able to be increasingly successful in an increasingly demanding program.”
Stott said MCC’s tutoring center was extremely helpful as well.
“I milked that place for all they would give me,” Stott said, grinning. “Marcella, with her metal pointer (which she accidentally poked me with, by the way) helped with the muscles, bones and body systems. I got an A in both A&P classes as well as microbiology and I don't believe I would have it without the tutoring center.”
Stott said the program’s clinical experience was invaluable.
“The clinical experience allowed me to apply what I had wanted to all my life, that being care in a professional environment,” Stott said. “I cared for people with illnesses ranging from mild infections to life-threatening conditions. In addition to treatment, patients and families needed consoling and encouragement. Though I was just a student, people needed me THERE, completely there, for them. I took that very seriously, and I am so grateful I was able to be a part of their lives in that way.”
Stott completed the program and passed the National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX), a standardized exam that each state board of nursing uses to determine whether or not a candidate is prepared for entry-level nursing practice. He’s been hired by Desert Vista Behavioral Health, a Maricopa Integrated Health System facility in Mesa and is excited to begin his career.
He said he would recommend MCC to anyone interested in higher education.
“Somehow they acquire the most caring, competent teachers in the state and their programs are so strong that the professional world recognizes the caliber of graduates turning out from there,” Stott said. “The student body is diverse in thought, culture, and otherwise, which has been so enriching and enlightening.”