Hopkinsville Community College has spent the last six decades sending students to the next level — be it a career or another four-year program.
In a recent visit with the Cadiz Rotary Club, HCC’s Chief Academic Officer Dr. Chris Bouyet brought two faculty colleagues — Shari Thompson and Joyce Lambruno — who could share key, passionate reasons to support the continued growth of community colleges in west Kentucky, and the importance of embracing post-secondary education regardless of level.
The trick, both said, is to start somewhere, as each watched close family members, or themselves, take advantage of local opportunities.
Thompson’s sister, Dr. Nancy McCormick, has a PhD in mathematics and spent nearly three decades of her career as a professor at Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro, Tennessee.
However, Thompson noted that her sister is a high school dropout — and first resharpened her education at Paducah Community College.
Thompson’s son, Corey, is a firefighter and EMT with Jefferson County, and one of the state’s largest training grounds for such jobs is the community college network.
Thompson’s daughter, Noelle, came out of Jefferson County Community and Technical College with a good number of transfer credits equitable to a full year — in what she called a 25% scholarship.
After graduating with a degree in health and human performance and an emphasis in healthcare management during the COVID-19 pandemic.
With fewer jobs available, Thompson said her daughter needed an answer.
These stories, Thompson said, illuminated the community college purpose: to provide education anyone ready and willing — from the dropout, to the 4.0 collegian.
Meanwhile, Lambruno reflected on a different time in her life. It was 1990, and she was married to an E4 military man with a 3-year-old. That’s very near the experience of a single mother, and with no family here, she needed to find a way to earn a living.
HCC gave her that opportunity, where she studied nursing, graduated, and eventually moved up through the ranks. She said her tuition reimbursement went toward a bachelor’s degree, and, later, a master’s degree.
But the community college experience gets even more personal for Lambruno and her family.
Lambruno’s grandson, last fall, broke his femur racing motorcycles — and his care had to come from Riley Children’s Health of Indianapolis.
It was the same weekend of the Indy 500, and a chance meeting with an HCC graduate brought her some perspective.
Dr. Bouyet reflected that enrollment is flat at the moment, but students are noticeably returning back to the classrooms — embracing risk in the face of a better job opportunity.
HCC Nursing is celebrating its 50th year, and transfer-to-work programs continue to be a success on the campus.
