Encouragement and perseverance pay off for MCC grad
Deanna Smith and April Miles have been friends since they were 15 years old and continued
that friendship during their first year as students at Meridian Community College.
Miles would later discover college wasn’t for her and shared with Smith that she was leaving school. But that didn’t stop Smith from encouraging her to stay and get her degree. “What are you going to do for the rest of your life? Just flip burgers?” both Miles and Smith laughed as they recalled Smith questioning her.
Twenty years later, Smith, MCC dean of student affairs, announced Miles’ name as she walked across the Evangel Temple stage at MCC’s spring commencement to receive her associate of applied science degree diploma from the Associate Degree Nursing Program.
Miles, 40, and a resident of Daleville is ready to move into her dream career: a nurse in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). For the past 15 years, she has worked several different jobs, the last of those at Rush Foundation Hospital as a secretary in the NICU. The passion to work with babies and take care of her family drove her back to MCC.
A single mom of three active children, ages 15, 14, and 12, Miles noted it was tough balancing being a single mother, working two jobs at times, and being a student while pursuing her goal of becoming a nurse. “It took a lot of prioritizing, a lot of planning,” she said, describing how she was able to get through the rigorous two years of study.
Another element in her success was perseverance.
Miles had to retake her second semester, which was heartbreaking. But she pushed through to the third semester. Smith encouraged her sharing with Miles that this was only a small setback for a big comeback.
What Miles didn’t plan on was COVID.
Miles and her ADN classmates started their studies in January 2020 for the first semester in the program. In March, students and faculty were ordered home because of the COVID pandemic and the worldwide shutdown.
While in her third semester of study, Miles contracted the virus. “I was on oxygen for eight weeks at home while in nursing school,” Miles said. “My instructors encouraged me to withdraw and come back because they didn’t think I could catch up, but I did,” she said.
Smith said to Miles, “Everybody told you to withdraw, including me, and your stubborn self said, ‘no.’” She added, “In hindsight, I’m glad she had that hard head.”
At home, Miles met her classes via Zoom, the video conferencing app. “I missed eight clinicals, and I had to catch up with that at the end of the semester. But I did that, though. The nursing instructors and staff were encouraging and helpful,” she noted.
Smith offered congratulations to her long-time friend, too. “I am a proud friend. Anyone who can work, take care of kids, and go to school is my hero. It is hard,” she said.
“Completing this degree is life-changing for her and her family, and she is a perfect example of what community colleges are all about. It really is my honor to get to say her name at graduation,” Smith added.
Now that Miles has received her diploma, she has another milestone event on the horizon. She and her fiancé Daniel Houze, a local musician, and an MCC alumnus, will be married soon.