Alumna finds confidence, career at WCC
Vanessa D’Souza needed a home base—a place to plant her educational roots while she grew not only her knowledge base, but her confidence as well. And she knew exactly where to turn.
“I had heard a lot of good things about Washtenaw Community College,” she said. “I knew I wasn’t ready to attend a four-year university and I wanted to save money for my education.”
With a goal of becoming an elementary teacher, D’Souza enrolled at the College in 2013. The road to her dream career, however, wasn’t always an easy path to navigate alone. Luckily, her WCC academic advisor was always there to help steer the way.
“I went to my advisor all of the time,” D’Souza said. “She was always there to help me figure out what classes I needed to take and worked with me to put my schedule together. Everyone at WCC was so great and willing to help me.”
Small size, big success
D’Souza attributes some of her success to the smaller class sizes often found at the College. “When you think of a college setting, most people think about large lecture halls. But at WCC the largest class I had was around 30 students,” she said. “I work well in smaller groups so that contributed to me reaching my full potential. Being at WCC was like a steppingstone that helped prepare me for a bigger university.”
And go bigger she did. D’Souza left WCC with a 3.9 GPA and started at the University of Michigan this fall. It’s a dream realized, in part, with the help of her community college.
“I was a bit nervous to take my next step, but I couldn’t have asked for a better school than WCC to have prepared me for it.”
Early Childhood Education
The Early Childhood Education program at Washtenaw Community College prepares students to transfer into a program at a four-year college or university. The program includes the general education classes that prepare students for the state-mandated basic skills tests for teachers in the state of Michigan.
Learn more at wccnet.edu