Carolyn Bruce-Spicer donates $50,000 to MCC Foundation for scholarships. From left are Michelle Diaz (MCC surgical technology director), Gene Spicer, Carolyn Bruce-Spicer, Shawn Bristle (MCC chief of innovation and transformation officer), Jann Woods (Havasu campus dean), Jennine Ramirez (MCC physical therapy assistant technician) and MCC mascot Boomer Bighorn.
Carolyn Bruce-Spicer recently donated $50,000 to the MCC Foundation to help allied health and nursing students pay for their education at Mohave Community College.
Bruce-Spicer was a nurse and then became a successful business woman in Lake Havasu City. Below you can read her comments about the scholarship and tips for allied health and nursing students to become successful in life. You can also read more about her and the donation in Today’s News Herald, the daily newspaper in Lake Havasu City.
The Mohave Wire asked Mrs. Bruce-Spicer about the type of students she would like to help.
Bruce-Spicer: “Primarily I would like to help those who are aspiring to move from the Associate Degree to Bachelor’s Degree to Master’s in Nursing. The nurse of today is expected to know and understand the physiology and the psychology of the human body, and be able to apply the art and science of nursing skills to further improve the patient’s healing progress beyond the medications and therapy prescribed by the doctor. This knowledge needs to be transferred to younger students through education in the classroom and bedside care of the patient.”
Mohave Wire: How does it make you feel knowing that you’ll be helping future generations achieve their education and career goals?
Bruce-Spice: “I feel good that my past work and career has allowed me to accumulate resources that I can now share with those who need financial help.”
Mohave Wire: In Mohave County 20% of people live in poverty. What would you say to them to convince them that education is the key to breaking the cycle of poverty?
Bruce-Spicer: “Achieving education in a selected field is one of the first steps that one can start toward a job that will provide a living wage. While some persons are not interested nor capable of achieving an academic college degree there are many technical training programs available to those who really want to learn a valuable skill. A higher level of skill is required and needed today to perform everyday work. One should look at family history. There are those who do well because they have taken the initiative to invest their time and energies into training for a viable skill that provides good compensation for job well done. Others in that same family may still be coasting along without goals and living pay check to pay check. Continuing in that path will only perpetuate a level of poverty that is carried over into the next generation. Not being able to pay the rent each month is degrading and stressful. Children often follow in the footsteps of their elders.
Go to your nearest community college or vocational training school, look at the lists of possible careers, do some reading about ones that you are interested in. Discuss your interests with a guidance counselor. Take the initiative to learn about the subject that you are curious about. Take advantage of available financial assistance, and enroll in a course. When I hear people say “I don’t know what I want to do”. It is because they have not take the time to read, or research the huge number of career possibilities open to them.
Be proud of yourself that you have taken that first step to shed the poverty distinction that exists in your family or friends. If one has the desire to do better, one will be able to establish goals that can be reached, and the expectation that you and your family’s standard of living will be elevated. Your children will sense a degree of respect and dignity in your lifestyle. Teach your children that education is the key to success. That first step is ‘yours’ to take!”
For more information about the scholarship and how to apply, contact the MCC Foundation and/or the MCC Financial Aid Office by calling 1-866-MOHAVECC or 1-866-664-2832.