Stories of Success
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Do you know of a Mesa Community College student or alum doing great work? Are you one of them? Please let us know.
For more than half a century, thousands of students have charted their path to success at Mesa Community College. Here we feature a compendium of their inspiring stories and reflections. Check back occasionally to see new stories featuring the impact MCC has had on lives and the communities we serve.
Successful Thunderbirds List
When it looked like it might be necessary to change professions because of physical limitations, MCC provided Sean with the opportunity to excel and grow without veering from his chosen career path.
An Arizona native, Sean attended MCC from August 2018 to May 2021 earning an Associates of Applied Science degree in Construction Management. Before earning the degree “I worked in the field…
MCC Psychology Graduate Publishes Research
If given a choice, are you more likely to turn left or right? Mesa Community College alumna Rosaline Dye’s interest in the subject resulted in the publication of her research in a scientific journal.
The research, “Absence of Lateral Navigation Bias in Young Children” appears in a 2014 edition of the journal Perceptual & Motor Skills Physical Development & Measurement…
Q&A with Brian Koeneman, Clinical Director for Laboratory Sciences of AZ
1) Please describe your affiliation with MCC.
As a senior in high school I had a few required classes left to complete for graduation and had to make a decision regarding what to do with my extra time before starting college the following year. Options of a part-time job, extra-curricular activities, and elective high school classes were considered, then a family…
As a software developer at Glendale Community College (GCC), Karri Sisson believes in continuous learning. “Any programming class improves your skills as a developer because you can always pick up new concepts or ways to apply them to your current work,” she says.
So, when Sisson first heard about Pega Systems Architect Essentials, she was intrigued.
Wanting to learn more,…
MCC was the perfect choice when Addison decided to major in psychology. It remained the perfect choice when he switched majors to game technology. “I decided MCC was best instead of going straight to a university for the time being,” he explains. “I wanted to start out a bit smaller and work towards my goals one step at a time instead of being thrown onto a big campus.”
Addison earned a…
For Alan Beveridge, 46, of Chandler, juggling a job, a family and maintaining at 3.94 GPA while attending Mesa Community College was a challenge, but the task was made easier with the guidance of MCC instructors.
“It all comes down to the instructors,” Beveridge said. “MCC instructors Preston Cameron, Edd Welsh and Jack Mullins set excellent examples. We have…
Journalism Student Begins Her Career at MCC
For Elliott Adams, 19, an immigrant originally from the United Kingdom, receiving a degree from an American community college seemed farfetched. But after being accepted into the Honors program at Mesa Community College and receiving the Presidents’ Scholarship, the possibility of achieving that academic goal became more of a reality.
“Growing up in a single-…
It had long been a dream of Melanie Clover Delgado, age 63 of Mesa, to find her path to higher education. Now, she’s on her way to making a real difference in the lives of vulnerable populations as a social worker/counselor.
Beginning with a difficult childhood, Delgado overcame multiple obstacles, including anxiety, depression, drug abuse and low self-worth, by seeking counseling.…
A Life Led to Encanto: Why MCC ‘Charmed’ Alumni Angel Ruvalcaba
Throughout his early life and as a first generation college student, Angel Ruvalcaba was captivated by comics and movies, and loved to tell stories through his digital art and drawings. Today he is a production assistant at Walt Disney Animation Studios in Burbank, California, a career move that he said could not have happened without Mesa Community College.
Born into a large Latinx…
James Hoselton, 55, of Apache Junction, seems surprised that he is being honored with so many awards as he graduates this month. After enrolling in college in his 50s, with only a ninth grade education, he suffered a back injury from a car accident which caused him to miss a month of classes. He now uses a cane and still has some pain.
“The professors were…