Crossing the stage as a Carl Sandburg College graduate this spring was a milestone moment for Selina Godina. But she knew it may have meant just as much to those around her as well.
“It means a lot for my family because I’m not only doing it for me, I’m doing it for all of us. It’s a big deal,” said Godina, the daughter of Mexican immigrants. “This is showing everyone that we have gone through so much and faced so many challenges that we didn’t deserve. But despite all of that, we persevered. We strived to be great.”
A graduate of Monmouth-Roseville High School, Godina took a certified nurse assistant (CNA) course at Sandburg the summer after she finished high school in 2019 before starting her prerequisites that fall semester. She appreciated the small, welcoming environment and knowing that several of her peers from high school were also attending Sandburg.
“If I had gone to a four-year school, it would be very intimidating, very overwhelming because you’re exposed to so many people and such big classes,” said Godina, who graduated from Sandburg debt-free. “I really liked that I saw a bunch of people that I knew and that it seemed like a great environment for me to learn in.”
After finishing her prerequisites, Godina was accepted into Sandburg’s associate degree nursing (RN) program in the fall of 2020. But after not doing much outside of her classes the previous year, Godina decided to get more involved on campus, wanting to develop more confidence and better leadership skills. She became a student ambassador, joined Women of Character, was inducted into Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society and was elected president of the Hispanic-Latino Student Association.
On top of that, she continued to excel in the classroom, earning a spot on the dean’s list six different times and one time on the honors list. Her efforts helped her become Sandburg’s nominee for the Student Laureate of the Lincoln Academy of Illinois.
Godina plans to continue her education, using a dual admissions pathway Sandburg has in place with the University of Illinois at Chicago to earn her bachelor’s in nursing while taking classes online. Her dream is to promote community health by becoming a midwife and opening a birthing clinic to serve disadvantaged women.
It would be the latest moment that would make her family proud.
“I’m very proud of my heritage, my culture and where my parents came from. We always strive to be the best and do better than yesterday,” Godina said. “I’m a totally different person than I was two years ago. I was a shy teenager that wasn’t really confident. I was unsure, overwhelmed and didn’t handle stress that well. Now it’s like I’m a completely different person. Sandburg gave me a lot of opportunities to become a great leader. I’m very grateful for this college.”
Read this story and more in the 2022 edition of the Sandburg Magazine