Brazosport College alumnus overcomes tough times to reach lofty goals

Stacey Nolan has dedicated her life to helping others.

She is a certified family nurse practitioner, has a successful career and has helped many others through organizing and working medical mission trips overseas.

Nolan, who earned a GED and an Associate Degree of Nursing at Brazosport College, recently completed a Master of Science in Nursing with a FamilyNurse Practitioner Specialization from Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi and is currently employed by First Choice Emergency Room in Katy.

But Nolan's journey toward success wasn't an easy one.

At the age of 16, she dropped out of school,moved to Ohio and became involved in an abusive marriage. Although she eventually discovered a way out of the troubled marriage, she still found herself homeless.

Then, in 1990, after five years of struggling to geton her feet, she became pregnant and everything changed. This came not only as a shock to Nolan, who had previously been told she couldn't have children, but it also helped her make the decision to move home and enroll in GED classes at Brazosport College.

Nolan completed her GED in 1991 and then worked her way through BC's paramedic program. She followed that up by graduating from the Brazosport College/Galveston College Associate Degree of Nursing program in 1998.

"Brazosport College truly encouraged me," Nolan said. "They made everything realistic, but never said I couldn't do it, either. They helped me every step of the way and played a big role in helping me achieve my goals."

While she is proud of her accomplishments, her primary goal remains to help those less fortunate than her. She's organized and worked medical mission trips in places such as Nicaragua, El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala and Mexico.

Nolan has one daughter, Summer, and currently lives in Brazoria. Summer, who is now 24 years old, has followed in her mother's footsteps and is a licensed vocational nurse.