Don

After a 20+ year career in high tech, I burned out. Severely burned out. I took two years off, focusing on community involvement and rebuilding my life. During this time, I sought career counseling and decided to change careers and become a nurse! In parallel with starting school at ACC, I sold my house to finance my education and began working at St. David’s Hospital and volunteering at Austin State Hospital. All three experiences confirmed I am on the correct path for the second half of my life. ACC has been the most important part of this journey. ACC has allowed me to re-integrate learning into my life – not easy 23 years after receiving my bachelor’s degree! It gave me confidence and a solid base upon which to grow into becoming a psychiatric nurse practitioner. Wonderful instructors such as Tom Stege, Liz Coccia, John Norris, and Meg Flemming have been friends, instructors, and mentors. I could not be where I am without ACC. I will finish my ACC coursework in May 2008 and have been accepted into the Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner bachelor and master’s degree programs at the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing. Penn is an Ivy League school founded by Benjamin Franklin and its School of Nursing is ranked number two in the country. So why am I ACC? Because ACC is me.