Affiong Hawkins’ hands have been her hallmark. She has used them both to soothe and to save. Throughout her journey into nursing — filled with pauses and the perseverance to stick with it — COTC has provided a huge helping hand.

The Reynoldsburg native initially tried college in the early aughts, sampling a couple of campuses before deciding to step away. She spent the next five years working with her hands before grasping her true aspiration. While working as both a patient care assistant and a massage therapist, Hawkins had an epiphany. “I wanted to heal people in a different way,” she said. “I decided to pursue nursing and see if it spoke to me. That’s what prompted me to go back to school.”

She got to COTC as a 35-year-old with a wife and a young daughter. She started slowly, taking one prerequisite class at a time. But she quickly had to put her pursuit on pause. “I still had debt from the first time I tried college,” she said. “It weighed on me, and I needed to take care of it.”

Instead of throwing up her hands, she used them to work and make ends meet. As soon as things stabilized, Hawkins hopped back in and completed the licensed practical nursing (LPN) program. Then she began pursuing her associate degree in nursing (ADN) at COTC’s Pataskala campus. It was much closer to home, but the transition was difficult. She failed an early course by a few percentage points and couldn’t continue with the program until she passed it. “That was discouraging,” Hawkins said. “I wanted to throw in the towel, but I pressed forward.”

She was driven, and she kept her hands on the wheel. Her effort and enthusiasm the rest of the way impressed her instructors. So much so, they nominated her to speak at Intel’s groundbreaking event in September 2022, attended by President Joe Biden. That “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity” preceded the commencement speech she made two months later as a successful graduate and registered nurse. Hawkins’ words held weight because nothing held her back. She succeeded despite the lows, epitomizing the COTC experience. “Sometimes it doesn’t happen on the first try,” she said, “but never give up. All the hard work pays off.”

Hawkins’ healing touch is now on display in the emergency department at Riverside Methodist Hospital. She knows she chose the perfect place to propel her there. At COTC, she was in great hands. “I don’t think I could have done it without this place,” she said. “I don’t think there’s any other institution that could have given me what I had at COTC.”