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Alumni Stories

Macomb’s law enforcement program

Macomb’s law enforcement program builds the foundation for tomorrow’s police officers

Alumni Stories

Macomb’s law enforcement program serves as a foundation for many police officers’ careers, including alumnae Samantha Kretzschmar of the City of Fraser and Alison Reiser of the Roseville Police Department. The officers reflect on how Macomb helped jump-start their law enforcement careers.

Laura Pape and Hannah Pape

Mom and daughter nurses, both Macomb alumnae, pursue BSN together

Alumni Stories

Friendships leading to lifelong relationships often develop while students pursue college degrees. But for two nursing students, that bond is even greater. Mom and daughter duo Laura Pape, 61, and Hannah Pape, 24, were both recently admitted to the Macomb to University of Detroit Mercy (UDM) bachelor’s degree in Nursing (BSN) program, on the campus of Macomb Community College. After earning their associate degree in nursing from Macomb years apart, they are now both pursuing their bachelor’s degree in nursing from UDM at Center Campus in Clinton Township.

Max Hopton

From Show Choir to Accounting, Macomb Alum Finds His Path

Alumni Stories

Singing, dancing and accounting may not appear to have much in common, but for Maximillion (Max) Hopton, they were the perfect combination. In his time at Macomb, Max, was able to pursue his passion for performing, honing his musical skills as a part of Macomb’s show choir, The Macombers, while also dedicating his studies to accounting because of the security that the profession provides.

David Hendren

Macomb resources help alumni earn physical therapy assistant degree

Alumni Stories

Going to college and earning a degree can be challenging for many people, For Macomb alumnus David Hendren, 32, it’s as tough as conquering some of the world’s most intense obstacle courses, including the Tough Mudder.

Lanna, of Detroit, is employed at KTD (Kroger Technology & Digital)

Alumna achieves new goal as a technical coach after earning computer science degree at Macomb

Alumni Stories

A degree in computer science from Macomb has opened many doors for alumna Lanna Brasure. Her education has provided her with the in-demand skills necessary to succeed as a software developer and, later, as a technical coach, mentor and even published author.

Brendan Wallace has wanted to attend the University of Detroit Mercy (UDM) since high school.

Starting out at Macomb paid off in more ways than one for Brendan Wallace

Alumni Stories

Brendan Wallace has wanted to attend the University of Detroit Mercy (UDM) since high school, so he was “happily overwhelmed” when he received a full-ride scholarship there beginning in the fall. But it never would have happened if he hadn’t decided to attend Macomb first.

There is more than one way to earn a CPA!

There is more than one way to earn a CPA!

Alumni Stories

Before discovering I’d rather teach full time, I worked for years as a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) after earning an MBA first from Walsh and then sitting for my CPA exam.

Alum Paul Gutierrez proud to hire Macomb students

Alum Paul Gutierrez proud to hire Macomb students

Alumni Stories

The education Paul Gutierrez received from the former Radio, Electronic, Television Services (RETS) School in Detroit is the type of skill-trade training he now looks for and finds in the students he hires from Macomb.

Alum feels at home in the world after Macomb study abroad trip

Alum feels at home in the world after Macomb study abroad trip

Alumni Stories

Curious about the world and longing to travel, Aaron Hedblad would have been the perfect candidate for a gap year abroad after graduating from Utica High School in 2007. But it took 10 more years and a Macomb study trip to Spain to free him from his comfort zone.

Abby Pace, Media and Communication Arts alumna

Abby Pace

Alumni Stories

Abby Pace had a self-described “wild imagination” growing up, with which she filled any available white space with fanciful designs. A presentation by Professor Brian Sauriol, now retired, about Macomb’s Media and Communication Arts (MACA) convinced her to start looking at those doodles in a more meaningful way.

Grace Perrin

Grace Perrin

Alumni Stories

While Grace Perrin considers studying Mandarin Chinese in high school time well spent, it was Python, a computer programming language, that opened up a whole new world for the 22-year-old.

Jill Moffatt

Jill Moffatt

Alumni Stories

Jill Moffatt’s last job was registering patients at the front desk of a medical practice. After completing Macomb’s six-month Certified Professional Coder program, she’s now accompanying physicians into the examining rooms with laptop in tow.

Erin Weimann

Erin Weimann

Alumni Stories

California’s Disneyland has long been billed as the Happiest Place on Earth, but after two internships and two years of seasonal work at Disney World in Florida, Erin Weimann found it to be a universal theme in the Disney enterprise.

Charles Havern

Charles Havern

Alumni Stories

Charlie Havern thought he was sailing toward a career as a restaurant chef when he graduated from Macomb in 2019 with an associate degree in culinary arts and a lasting friendship with Professor Chef Scott O’Farrell. But a job cooking in the galley of a cruise ship with port of calls in the Hawaiian Islands sent him in a completely different direction.

Leah Crandall

Leah Crandall

Alumni Stories

She’s travelled to Bora Bora, hiked through the Grand Teton and Yellowstone national parks, and rode in a one-day, 100-mile bicycle tour. Leah Crandall is always on the lookout for new adventures, but none will ever be as risky or as exciting as leaving behind a 20-year career and starting anew as her own boss.

Lanna Brasure

Lanna Brasure

Alumni Stories

If variety is the spice of life, Lanna Brasure’s spice racks should, by all accounts, be overflowing. The St. Clair County native, who now lives in downtown Detroit and is a software engineer at Little Caesars, has enjoyed more hobbies and careers than most people do in a lifetime. Perhaps this is due to her drive to reject complacency and reach for the stars.

Erica Wilson

Erica Wilson

Alumni Stories

You might say that Erica Wilson stumbled upon her career path while a student here. The Warren Woods Tower High School graduate received a volleyball scholarship to attend Macomb in 2013, tore a ligament in her knee diving for a play in 2014 and discovered her calling while recuperating from the injury.

Carissa Hansen

Carissa Hansen

Alumni Stories

Carissa Hansen has played the guitar since she was 12, is interested in how music is made as well as how it sounds and would welcome a job in the recording industry. But it wasn’t until she took a class at Macomb that she discovered the game-changing nature of one of the 20th century’s most iconic sounds.

Sarah Zanchetta

Sarah Zanchetta

Alumni Stories

Arizona is as different from Michigan as the Emerald City is from Kansas. The road Sarah Zanchetta followed to the Grand Canyon State, however, was paved not in yellow bricks, but in costing models, inventory controls and arrow diagrams. Not to mention a certain college logo depicting the turning pages of a book. (Yes, that would be Macomb’s.)

Katlin Pfropper

Katlin Pfropper

Alumni Stories

it is difficult to characterize Katlin Pfropper as either a Macomb alumna or a student because she is intensely good at doing both, as well as many other things, at one time.

Silvana Palazzolo

Silvana Palazzolo

Alumni Stories

When Silvana Palazzolo graduated from Dakota High School in 2017, joining the military was not on her radar. That changed her second year at Macomb when she was drawn to enlist by an ad on Facebook for the Michigan Air National Guard.

Alexis Perry

Alexis Perry

Alumni Stories

As a student at Benzie Central High School near Traverse City, Alexis Perry rode with the local police several times to clock observation hours for her government classes. By the time she graduated in 2018, she decided to turn those class assignments into a career.

Jeremy Barnes-Smith

Jeremy Barnes-Smith

Alumni Stories

At 30, Macomb alum Jeremy Barnes-Smith is living his dreams. After a decade in the automotive industry, he is now working at General Motors as a mobile software engineer. But it took more than a little dedication and a fair number of nearly sleepless nights for him to get to where he is today.

Francesca Pace

Francesca Pace

Alumni Stories

Francesca Pace’s path to her current career as an events planner was scattered with figurative rose petals by the unlikely duo of David Tutera, of My Fair Wedding fame, and Nancy Butzu, Early Childhood Studies instructor at Macomb. But Pace never dreamed it would lead to twice monthly Zoom calls with Tutera, after being selected with 99 others for the celebrity wedding planner’s national mentorship.

Cherie Noullet

Cherie Noullet

Alumni Stories

Despite the fact that she completed Macomb’s Veterinary Assistant program just last June, animals who find themselves under Cherie Noullet’s watch at Macomb Veterinary Associates in Utica are in the hands of a veteran caregiver.

Cherie Noullet

Cherie Noullet

Alumni Stories

Despite the fact that she completed Macomb’s Veterinary Assistant program just last June, animals who find themselves under Cherie Noullet’s watch at Macomb Veterinary Associates in Utica are in the hands of a veteran caregiver.