Bulgaria native heads down road to nursing with degree

COLUMBUS - As the students marched into the auditorium, dressed in their caps and gowns, each one had a unique story to tell.

Some came to Central Community College-Columbus fresh out of high school and were walking away with a diploma. Others went the less traditional route, returning to school to earn a degree after years removed from a classroom education.

Then there are students like Shirin Thiele, a native of Bulgaria, who came to Columbus 10 years ago. She didn't have much of an idea what she wanted to do when she came here, only that she knew she would have a better life in America.

She chose Columbus because a friend of hers lived here. She left behind her family when she was 20 and moved to Columbus.

Even though she knew four languages - Bulgarian, Turkish, Yugoslavian and Russian - Thiele didn't know English when she came here. But she took ESL classes through the library to learn the language and began working toward earning her American citizenship in 1996, a feat she would accomplish six years later.

Thiele was enrolled in college in Bulgaria and wanted to continue her education here. But choosing a career path was a challenge.

She thought of photography or coaching because of her athletic background, but eventually chose a different path.

When she first started to take classes at CCC-Columbus, Thiele, then 27, was taking science-based courses leaning toward a career in radiology. But she chose to become a nurse.

Nursing wasn't a foreign field for her as her sister is a midwife, and many of her aunts are nurses, too. But there was one instructor at the college who influenced her the most in her choice.

“I definitely think that there was one instructor that really, really made me choose the nursing. That was Mr. (Bill) Erwin, the anatomy instructor. I wouldn't have been in the nursing program without him. ... He explained to me that there are many other fields in nursing,” Thiele said.

Thiele earned her associates degree in nursing Friday at the college commencement ceremony. She is planning on continuing with her education to get her bachelor of science in nursing degree by taking more classes through the college and on-line courses through the University of Nebraska Medical Center.

While earning her degree, Thiele married to her husband, Jeff, and the couple had a baby, seven-and-a-half-month old Maddux.

She said it was a challenge coming to America, becoming a citizen, starting a family and graduating, but with support from the instructors at the college, she was glad she made the choice to come here.

“It was very hard actually. Now that I'm 30 years old, if I had to do it again, I would, but when you are younger, you are fearless,” Thiele said.