Family illness helped guide MC grad's nursing career pathJune 22, 2021

When Enissa Sanchez was in high school, her grandfather was diagnosed with cirrhosis of the liver.

“I witnessed how compassionate and caring his nurses were, and that’s when I knew I wanted to become a nurse,” Sanchez said.  “I knew right then and there that nursing was the career choice for me, and I would do it for the rest of my life!

“Since nursing school is expensive, my mom wanted to make sure that it was something that I really liked, so she suggested that I take the Certified Nurse Aide course offered by the WRTTC [Midland College Williams Regional Technical Training Center].  I loved the course, and when it was time to do the clinical portion of the course, I found that I loved being with the residents in the nursing home.  I had learned the skills in books and by practicing in the lab, but once I actually helped patients, I realized how much they appreciated that I was there for them.”

After becoming a Certified Nurse Aide (CNA) in 2017, Sanchez worked part-time at Pecos County Memorial Hospital’s Family Care Center.

The CNA course was not the first course at the WRTTC that Sanchez had taken.  Throughout high school, she said that she took as many dual credit courses as possible.

“Anything that the WRTTC offered, I took,” Sanchez explained.  

The WRTTC, Midland College’s only branch campus, is located at 1309 W. Interstate 10 in Fort Stockton.  The campus serves Pecos County residents through university parallel and occupational/technical certificate and associate degree programs.  Fort Stockton High School students can take advantage of dual credit courses obtaining both high school and college credit, and this is exactly how Enissa Sanchez is able to graduate from Texas Tech University with a bachelor’s degree in three years.  

“I was able to knock out a full year of college while I was still in high school,” Sanchez said.

Sanchez graduated from Fort Stockton High School in May 2018 and entered Texas Tech in August of that year.  This past May, she graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Human Development & Family Studies and will soon enter the nursing program at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center in Lubbock.  In August 2022, she will graduate from nursing school and be eligible to take the National Council Licensure Exam for Registered Nurses. 

During her first year at Texas Tech, Sanchez volunteered at University Medical Center in Lubbock as a child life specialist.  Every Tuesday between 4:00 and 6:00 p.m., she read to children, colored with them and played games.  

“It was through my volunteer work that I decided I wanted to be a pediatric nurse,” she said.  “I love working with children and know that my life’s calling is helping children grow up happy and healthy.”

Sanchez continued to volunteer as a child life specialist throughout the time she attended Texas Tech until the COVID pandemic put a temporary hold on volunteers being able to enter the hospital.  Currently, Sanchez works as a CNA at University Medical Center Physicians Clinic in Lubbock.  She is the first CNA that the clinic has ever hired.  

“I really enjoy it, and hope to continue to work there part-time on the weekends when I start nursing school,” Sanchez said.

During her weekends off from work, Sanchez goes back to Fort Stockton to visit family. Her parents are Ursula and Elias Sanchez, and when she is in Fort Stockton, she enjoys spending time with them as well as her younger siblings and her grandparents.  She is engaged to be married to Kevin Marler, also from Fort Stockton.  She said that the two have been dating since they were freshmen in high school.  

“I don’t know if I would have been able to follow my career dream if it hadn’t been for the Midland College WRTTC,” Sanchez said.  “The CNA courses I took have not only enabled me to discover that healthcare is my passion, but also allowed me to obtain jobs and help pay for college.  The ability to get college credit while I was still in high school also helped reduce college expenses.”

In addition, Sanchez has been able to take advantage of the Piñon Scholarship, which pays up to $2,000 each semester for Fort Stockton High School graduates and the James Trott Scholarship.  Sanchez said that she will graduate with a bachelor’s degree completely debt free.

“I’m excited to begin the next phase of my life,” she said.  “I am looking forward to nursing school and in becoming a registered nurse in just 16 months!”