Since Anna Nighorn ’12 was a little girl, she wanted to be a nurse.
“I promised my grandpa as he was dying of cancer, I am going to be the person that helps other people,” Nighorn said.
After her divorce, Nighorn knew it was time.
She enrolled in NWTC’s Associate Degree Nursing program. Being a single mom with two young children, childcare, bills and tuition, it was hard to make ends meet.
“I couldn’t even afford laundry soap,” Nighorn said. “I was so worried about how in the world I would feed my kids and make this work. But I just knew I had to.”
She turned to NWTC’s Student Support Services staff, who helped her apply for childcare assistance. She received groceries from the college’s Shared Harvest Food Pantry. Through the Student Emergency Fund she received gas and grocery gift cards.
Those services are exactly what Nighorn needed to focus on studying and lead her to a successful career.
“I am so thankful for NWTC because I know I would not be where I am,” Nighorn said. “I graduated with honors. I am a nurse. I am completely off any government assistance of any kind and my kids are doing well.”
Nighorn kept that promise to her grandfather. She works in the intensive care unit at Aurora Bay Care Medical Center in Green Bay.