Supervisor in country’s busiest ER: Polk State Nursing is top notch
Thrill of critical thinking led Polk State alum to EMS career
Allison Skinner lives for the thrill of responding quickly and critically to the needs of her patients as a paramedic with Manatee County Emergency Medical Services. And after only four years on the job, Skinner…
First-generation-in-college student “was willing to work hard, just needed guidance”
Jean Woody Luxama has had a few monumental turning points in his life. One was when he lived through the 2010 Haiti earthquake that killed more than 200,000 people and injured hundreds of thousands more…
Alum, WNCC EMS Program Director Graham Judd: Polk State’s program serves as exemplary model
Polk State College alum Graham Judd says Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Program Director Don Guillette runs a tight ship, which Judd admits he didn’t fully understand when he was a student. But after more than…
First-generation-in-college student: Mom’s dreams are my dreams, my dreams are her dreams
Marielys Cirilo’s parents moved from Puerto Rico to the U.S. as young adults with big dreams of going to college. But they quickly married and had children, and higher education became financially out of reach.…
Graduating student practices what she preached to her children
Teretha Robinson has attended Polk State College on and off for more than 30 years, coming up with “all of the excuses in the world” as to why she couldn’t complete her degree. “I had…
Polk State’s youngest bachelor’s student to receive degree May 3
Harrison Broer said his first day of college was weird. That’s because he was only 15 years old, and after completing his Associate in Arts degree a semester before graduating from Polk State Lakeland Collegiate…
From nurse to patient: Graduating student overcomes debilitating illness to achieve BSN
Amber Price has dedicated her life to helping and healing others, but soon after starting her career as a registered nurse at Winter Haven Hospital, she was forced to switch her role to patient as…
Graduating student: Polk State showed me I don’t have to be another statistic
Growing up, no one encouraged Keiona Haggins to go to school. “I was only told to not end up pregnant or in jail,” she said. She lived in a home where emotional and physical abuse…
Polk State JD Alexander Center Makes it Possible for First-Generation-in-College Student to Juggle School and Three Jobs
For students at the Polk State JD Alexander Center, it’s all about location. Without Polk State College’s presence in the Lake Wales community, many students would not be pursuing their higher education because they would…