As one of the more than 160 Kaua’i Community College students attending graduation Friday evening, Suzette Horsburgh’s participation will be bittersweet. Scheduled to receive her associate’s degree liberal arts and practical nursing certificate, Horsburgh said the diploma will mean a
As one of the more than 160 Kaua’i Community College students attending graduation Friday evening, Suzette Horsburgh’s participation will be bittersweet.
Scheduled to receive her associate’s degree liberal arts and practical nursing certificate, Horsburgh said the diploma will mean a temporary end not only to late-night study sessions and 20-page term papers, but to the friendships she has forged during her three years at the school.
But above all, Horsburgh said the ceremony will leave her with a sense of accomplishment that the single mom and returning students never thought possible.
Ten years ago, Horsburgh quit school and moved from Manhattan Beach, Calif., to Kaua’i, where she took a job at the Princeville Hotel. Eventually, the mother of one hit the salary ceiling for someone with her education and decided to make a change.
“I reached a point where I would not be able to move up without a degree,” she said.
In late 1997, Horsburgh began her educational career at KCC, where she began pursuing a career in nursing that she thought would allow her to combine her interests in medicine with the people skills she had honed at the hotel.
“It’s a medical field, but with a more caring approach,” she said. “I’m people-oriented, so you actually get to combine that with the whole health approach.”
With the help and encouragement of instructors Brian Yamamoto and Dana Bekeart, Horsburgh said her desire to learn more increased as her time at KCC continued.
“I didn’t really know if I’d be able to get the degree I wanted, but the more classes I took, the more I realized it was attainable,” she said.
Horsburgh quickly became involved in other aspects of KCC, participating in groups such as student government and the Phi Theta Kappa international honors society.
Between all the different campus commitments inside and outside the classroom, Horsburgh said KCC became a big part of her life.
“I can see how easy it would be to become a career student here,” she laughed.
But Horsburgh’s other identity – as mother to 10-year-old daughter Lauren – has taught her to delicately balance the two roles in a way that most of her peers don’t.
“I don’t live at home with a parent,” she said. “I am the parent.”
Raising the child on her own created obstacles, Horsburgh said, including financial sacrifices, a reduction in free time and frequent exhaustion.
“It was tough having a young child and going to school,” she said. “I had to give up a lot, but I knew in the long run it would be worth it. In a way, it was a good thing.”
Horsburgh said she was able to use her knowledge as an older student with a child as a way to succeed in college, with life’s lessons generally proving much more valuable that a chapter out of a textbook or an hour-long lecture.
“I realized I knew a lot more than I thought I did,” she said. “Things really started coming together.”
But not everything was solved with the knowledge of a few extra years, such as when she took a class in microbiology. The workload and content proved almost too much to handle, she said.
“There’s nothing you can base it on or relate it to something else,” she said. “Microbiology was just this whole new world of stuff that was completely foreign.”
After many sleepless nights, Horsburgh said she was delighted when she found out she had earned a B in the class.
“I really got a lot of self-esteem from that,” she said.
Although her time at KCC is coming to an end, Horsburgh said her bonds with instructors, school staff and fellow students will last much longer than any two or four-year degree.
“I’ve made friends here that I’m pretty sure I’ll be friends with for life,” she said.
Many of them will be at Friday’s commencement event, during which Horsburgh will give a five to 10-minute speech on inspiration.
“It’s an honor, and it should be nice,” she said.
After a couple months of some well-deserved relaxation, Horsburgh and her daughter will pack up and move to O’ahu, where she will attend Hawai’i Pacific University as she pursues her career goal of becoming a licensed practical nurse. With a bachelor degree the immediate goal there, Horsburgh said a masters degree is not necessarily out of the question.
“That’s always an option,” she said. “My experience at KCC gave me the tools and knowledge I need to do whatever I want to do.”
Staff writer Matt Smylie can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 226) and mailto:msmylie@pulitzer.net
