ECC sees growth continue
Despite completing his course work and all the requirements he needs to graduate, Ryan Trumpinski was not with the more than 500 graduates recognized at Elgin Community College Friday night.
That's because Trumpinski was working as a nurse at a long-term care facility in Lake Zurich — an opportunity he was able to pursue because of his education at ECC.
ECC graduated 532 students in the Spartan Events Center on Friday, far more than the 466 who received degrees one year ago. The numbers are consistent with the college's dramatic growth lately; ECC was recently named the fastest-growing community college of its size in Illinois.
Trumpinski decided to pursue a nursing degree at ECC after getting a degree in communications and spending 10 years in sales.
“I enjoyed business, I enjoyed management, I was living in Lincoln Park doing what a 20-something should do,” Trumpinski said. “I was having a really good time, but I started realizing I wanted more out of life, more meaning, more purpose.”
Trumpinski enrolled in ECC's nursing program in 2008 and soon found a mentor in Joanne Bohne, a first-year nursing instructor. He quickly decided that he wanted to spend the rest of his professional life as a nurse.
“She taught me how to deliver excellent patient care, how to empathize, how to sympathize,” Trumpinski said, adding: “I know that nursing is my career for the rest of my life.”
ECC President David Sam, board Chair Eleanor MacKinney and 2010 graduate Maria Salvatierra addressed the graduating class.