Luevelyn Brooker isn’t wasting her time while she’s preparing to apply for OCtech’s competitive Associate Degree Nursing program next fall.
While she is completing the last biology class needed for the program, Luevelyn is earning a Certified Nursing Assistant certificate.
“When I first came to OCtech, I was planning to take transfer classes,” the 2017 High School for Health Professions graduate said. “I didn’t want to jump right into a university environment. Then I started seeing the nursing students around campus and decided to work toward that goal. I enjoy helping people, and I love kids. I want to be a traveling pediatric nurse one day.”
Doing the CNA program has only intensified her desire to become a nurse.
“I really enjoy the program,” Luevelyn said. “Nursing is what I want to do.”
She is also a tutor for BIO 117 and 118, two biology courses that serve as stepping stones to the Anatomy and Physiology courses required for entry into the college’s competitive Nursing and Health Science programs.
Luevelyn, who is taking BIO 225 – Microbiology – this semester, said OCtech’s new Biology EDGE program was very helpful. The college started offering EDGE in its BIO 117, 118, 210 and 211 classes last semester.
Luevelyn said she was thankful for the extra support she received in her BIO 211 class in the fall. “With Biology EDGE, you’re able to get help in areas that you might not understand during the lecture,” she said. “They break it down for you on a more individualized level so that you’re able to understand it better.”
Melissa Plummer, dean of Arts and Sciences, said the purpose of the EDGE program is to offer tutoring to students in a new way. “Grades are extremely important for admission into our competitive programs,” she said. “Through EDGE, students receive supplemental instruction from professionals in the field of study in order to earn superior grades for their applications.”
