Being rejected, called names and punished for not meeting expectations left Donnah Mukanziza feeling “fragile” about continuing her education. Although she was nervous because of her previous negative experience elsewhere, Mukanziza got a second chance at completing her education with Middlesex Community College.
“MCC did not only help me get over all my fears, but also gave me faith, patience, confidence and courage to believe in myself, to stop doubting myself, to know myself through guidance on how to be better,” Mukanziza said.
Living in Acton, Mukanziza started at Middlesex at the Adult Learning Center. In the program, she developed her reading, writing and mathematics skills with a small cohort of classmates. The goal of the program is to prepare students to sit for a high school equivalency exam.
After earning her GED (General Education Development), she transitioned into the college’s Links program to gain the skills she needed to succeed in college-level courses. Both programs offered small class sizes and individualized academic and career advising to guide her through her next educational and professional steps.
“The special thing about the programs was the way students are grouped according to their needs,” she said. “The teachers’ involvement with the students made it easier to learn. They give enormous guidance on what to do next.”
As the Links program is supported by a grant from the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, Mukanziza was also able to go through the program for free. “The endless financial support from the Links Program pushed me to keep myself in school,” she said.
Many professors and staff members helped her to develop into “the strong woman I am becoming,” Mukanziza said. This includes MCC’s Director of the Adult Learning Center and Links Program Katherine Innis, MCC’s Program Coordinator for the Links program Karen Spengler, and her computer tutor Evans Milt.
Mukanziza is also grateful to Dr. Mariluci Bladon, MCC’s Director of Biotechnology, for teaching her more about the industry, as well as Middlesex’s biotech offerings. It is Bladon’s passion for students and her ability to “always look out for students beyond the class” that helped Mukanziza decide she wanted to pursue a career in biotechnology.
With guidance from Bladon and her advisors, Mukanziza got accepted into MCC’s Biotechnology Learn and Earn Experience. She is excited to start her coursework and internship at Takeda Pharmaceuticals in the Fall 2022 semester.
“I cannot express enough how MCC has transformed me,” she said. “I am very proud to be one of MCC’s students.”