Fall — 2008

Carol Avalos

Nursing

“I have Professor Vini Angel for Nursing 20, and she is just amazing. It’s just an awful lot of chemistry stuff, but she’s patient and a great teacher.”

One of the great bugaboos about being a student anywhere is that old demon, cash. And so it’s been for Carol Avalos. “It’s very tough being single, having to work, and going to school full time. And I was trying to do this whole program without loans. But I just couldn’t get it all done,” she admits. “So now I’m going into debt, but I know it’ll all be worth it.”

Carol already has an undergraduate degree in Psychology, “But,” she says, “I never really did much with it and ended up in the restaurant business.” But then an event came along—a niece, in actuality—and Carol’s life changed. “My niece was born four months early, and I spent a lot of time with her in the hospital. And she’s really the one who got me started on this road. I’m going to get my RN through SMC, and then go right into working NICU, which is where premature babies are treated. They’re really the most frail and vulnerable of all human beings.” ‘Frail’ is not a word you’d ever use to describe Carol. But ‘vulnerable’? Oh, yeah. “I think that our program is the toughest one around, anywhere. That’s what everybody says. But the results of the training really pay off.” To help her get through the toughest stretches of stress, Carol relies on allies from an unexpected quarter: her fellow students. “We have a study group of four of us, and we get together four times a week, if not more. Honestly, I just couldn’t survive without that.”

Going into debt, making it on her own, and devoting herself to SMC’s world-class Nursing program, Carol is nothing but positive about her future. “But one thing I would advise to anyone who comes here is to use all the opportunities available through Counseling. The whole department will answer any question you might have and get you to where you need to be. They’re generous with their care and concern. Completely!”

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