Get There from Here:

by Terry Smith

Dr. Sam Ciatto, veterinarian

He moved from Michigan to Las Vegas, Colorado, Montana and New Mexico. He trimmed Christmas trees, roofed buildings, flipped burgers and scrubbed toilets.

After he dropped out of high school in 11th grade and later earned his high school diploma, Sam Ciatto says he "attended the university of life" for about four years as he moved around the country. "Listening to people is probably the one gift I have," he says. "When older people would talk, I'd listen." A fellow roofer in Las Vegas asked him if this was all he really wanted out of life. "He was probably the most down-to-earth, intelligent person I've ever met," Ciatto says. "It was 150 degrees on those roofs. You would burn your hands. College started looking good.

"After I heard, 'You're young, go to school,' a thousand times, I moved back to Alma where my mom lives."

That was 1992 and Ciatto was 22. And that's when he enrolled at Montcalm Community College.

These days, "Dr. Sam," now 34, is satisfied with his veterinary career in Newaygo. But, in his late teens and then his early 20s, he didn't know where and what he wanted to be.

The road less traveled

Ciatto's mom talked him into enrolling at MCC and pursuing nursing. MCC was close to home and offered a good nursing program, so he started taking his basic classes. "But nursing wasn't for me. I knew that before I started college," Ciatto says. "I didn't know what to expect, but when that first semester was over, I said, 'Holy smokes, I'm glad that's done,' and went on. I didn't have anything to lose."

Ciatto knew he wanted to study something "a little bigger" than nursing -- maybe attend medical school, maybe law school. While he was an MCC student, he decided he wanted to go to veterinary school. "The medical curriculum is tough," he says, "but I just started chipping away at it." He continued to take classes he needed at MCC -- science, math, chemistry, biology and humanities -- as well as advanced science classes at Alma College. He also started looking for volunteer jobs at veterinary clinics and worked with Dr. Jan Pol in Weidman, where he "rode around all day" doing primarily dairy work.

Without a bachelor's degree, Ciatto transferred to Michigan State University's college of animal science, then applied and was admitted to the college of veterinary medicine. He graduated from MSU in 2003, then worked at a walk-in clinic in Jackson before moving to his current job at Newaygo Veterinary Services. If he had it all to do over again, Ciatto says he wouldn't change his course. "If I had gone right into Alma College from high school, I would have failed. Coming from Montcalm, I was thoroughly prepared to succeed.

"Life's experiences have taught me a lot," he says. "Working for other people educates you."

A matter of degrees?

Two May 2005 graduates are also moving on from MCC to earn advanced degrees without first pursuing their bachelor's degrees.

Tim Dailey and Ashley Derrick, both 2002 Carson City-Crystal High School graduates, came to MCC without a clear career plan. Both also took an on-line MCC psychology course during their senior year of high school and decided to live at home with their parents while attending college.

MCC graduate Tim Dailey

"I wasn't sure whether I would continue my education," Dailey says. "I signed up at the last minute for fall classes at MCC." He took basic courses then decided to become a pharmacist. He talked to people to learn more about the profession, took additional classes at MCC and Lansing Community College, then got a job at the Meijer pharmacy in Greenville.

"That's when things changed," he says. "I'm happy I worked there and I got a better understanding of what the job is like. But, it made me change my mind. I'm more of a people person -- I wanted to have more of a relationship with patients."

Last fall, Dailey took MCC's anatomy and physiology class with instructor Michelle Gibson. "I really enjoyed that class; you learn so much about how the body works. About mid-semester, it hit me. I knew I didn't want to do pharmacy, but I wasn't sure what I wanted to do. I had thoughts about becoming a medical doctor, a physician's assistant, an optometrist or a podiatrist."

That's when Dailey job shadowed first with an optometrist, then at a podiatry office in Alma. He smiles and says, "I got to see a bunch of feet and I got to visit with patients. Dr. Holland talked with me about the different things you can do in podiatry. It's a growing profession. I had a lot of fun."

With a podiatric career in mind, Dailey went on line and discovered there are only seven schools of podiatry in the nation. He researched costs and educational requirements, and learned he needed 90 credits to transfer. He applied and received a scholarship to the Ohio College of Podiatric Medicine, where he plans to complete four years of schooling followed by two years of residency. Eventually, Dailey would like to open his own practice.

Just get started

MCC graduate Ashley Derrick

Although she wasn't sure what degree she would pursue, Derrick began taking classes at MCC two weeks after high school graduation. She started with basic courses like English and Bioethics. "I didn't really know I wanted to do nursing until I took my second nursing class," she says. "At that point, I wondered how I had not know this is what I wanted to do."

She earned her practical nursing certificate from MCC last year, and worked part time as a licensed practical nurse at Gratiot Medical Center while she pursued her associate's degree in nursing during the 2004-05 school year. Now, she wants to earn her master of science degree in nursing so she can teach in a community college.

With her registered nurse license under her belt, Derrick will transfer in August to the nursing school at Case Western Reserve University in Ohio. She'll complete bridge courses and, in three years, plans to have her master's degree. She will also work as an RN while she finishes her education.

Ciatto, Dailey and Derrick agree that job shadowing and talking to people working in a profession are good ways to learn about a career. "Your career won't just show up on your doorstep," Derrick says. "You have to go and look for it, and explore all of your options before you decide on something."