MCC Graduate Believes in Contributing to Community
Jessica Siegel - Associate in Applied Science
Jessica Siegel will be graduating from Mesa Community College as an International Certified Tutor and a Certified Herbalist. She intends to pursue further education toward becoming a Naturopathic Doctor, a career in which she strongly believes.
While at Mesa Community College, Siegel was a dedicated honors student; she is a Presidential Scholar and an active member of Psi Beta and Phi Theta Kappa. Due to her extensive service to the community, she was awarded the National Engaged Leader Award from the National Society of Leadership and Success.
She is most proud of the positive effect she has made on her own community by volunteering 700 hours of her time. Jessica says that by following the old adage, “Act local. Think global,” she can have a tremendous impact on the lives of those around her — a promise she will continue to keep when she becomes a physician.
Siegel says, “If you had told me when I was in high school that I would be studying to become a Doctor of Naturopathic Medicine, I admit I would not have believed you. I probably would have thought it was out of my reach due to the time required and scholarly obstacles that stood between such a degree and me. I truly would have believed that dream was out of my high school self’s reach. However, that is exactly the path on which I am now traveling. Earning a degree is a matter of patience and perseverance. I’m committed to dedicating the time necessary and diligence required to obtain my goal – one of the great lessons I learned while attending Mesa Community College.”
Siegel recounted her first experience with MCC, during her senior year of high school, “The course was challenging and I am grateful for having instructor Jacqui Jesse, who spent many afternoons in her office helping me. Her help not only allowed me to successfully complete the class, but the experience and individual attention I received nourished my desire to continue my college education at MCC.”
In addition to being a full-time college student, Siegel worked as a tutor. The growth of the students she worked with individually motivated her to accept greater challenges, to increase the number of students she tutored and to make a scalable impression in her community. This desire led her to volunteer at an elementary school, where she was able to work one-on-one with students.
“As a tutor, I have made a significant impact in the lives of over 80 students; upscaling the role of mentors in classrooms reduces the teacher-student gap and increases learning. I learned a lot from the experience; especially in the sense that I do not plan to manage a classroom on my own in the future,” said Siegel.
Appreciative of the support she received at MCC, she concluded, “Luckily, all my experiences have led me here. I have grown through building strong interpersonal relationships. The instructors Dr. Graham Boorse, Jacqui Jesse, Dr. Puvana Ganesan, Dr. Ed Lipinski and Jennifer Wood are a few who have helped me grow and thrive, and encouraged me to want to help others blossom with my future career.”