Whether it was with her family to new homes, with fellow missionaries to an underserved country or with her COTC nursing cohort to different clinical sites, Becca Saxton has always been on the move.

When it comes to her career, her first move was always clear. Saxton’s mom is a home care nurse and her biggest role model, one who often turned Saxton’s affinity for the field into shadowing opportunities. “It was so fun wearing scrubs and watching Mom do wound care and feeding tubes,” she said. “I saw her interact with her patients so compassionately, caring for more than just their physical body.”

Those trips into patients’ homes continued no matter where her family lived, which changed each time her pastor father got a new job. Saxton was born in northeast Ohio, uprooted to New Jersey just before her 10th birthday and returned to Ohio a few years later. The family of seven settled in Westerville, living there long enough for Saxton to finish high school.

Then, equipped with only a benevolent heart and a nurse’s aide license, Saxton packed her bags for a three-month mission trip to South Africa. She mainly mended scraped knees and administered medication to children with chronic illnesses. True to her training, though, she cared for them more than just physically, playing piano and singing, cooking meals, and coaching soccer. Put simply, she said, “I used a lot of what I saw my mom do.”

She officially followed Mom’s footsteps when she returned to the States. She enrolled at COTC, a place her two older sisters attended and a proven training ground for great nurses. “It was known as a good, accredited nursing program with great passing rates for the NCLEX,” she recalled. “It was also very affordable.”

Between financial aid and all the scholarships she received, the stellar student didn’t end up paying a penny for her five semesters at COTC — and could instead prioritize paying for gas. With her family’s most recent move to eastern Ohio, campus and her clinical locations were suddenly much further away. “I was waking up at 4 a.m. to drive to clinicals, then getting home late,” she said. “It was so hard. I didn’t think I would make it through.”

When she learned she finally passed her last exams, she celebrated with her hero. “I saw my mom and burst into tears,” Saxton said. “She just hugged me and held me, and we laughed and cried.” They did the same the next night during COTC’s pinning ceremony. In a moment that moved the family unlike any other, Saxton’s mom met her on stage to place the pin that signaled her transition from student to nurse.

Now, Saxton works on the observational unit at Genesis Hospital in Zanesville, where she has been since earning her associate degree in nursing in 2024. As for her future, she could see herself trying home health nursing, just like her mom. Maybe she’ll make her next mission trip more permanent and “move to South Africa, China or some other place with a huge need for healthcare.”

Though her next move isn’t clear, it is clear how she ultimately put herself in the position to follow her passions. “COTC trained me very, very well,” Saxton said. “I was exposed to a lot in nursing school that helped shape the kind of nurse and person I want to be.”