Alex Achlioptas ’17 didn’t take the most direct route to success, but things have worked out quite well. The Naugatuck Valley Community College nursing student did the opposite of what most students do. He began his higher education at Quinnipiac and Southern Connecticut State Universities before enrolling at NVCC.

Achlioptas admits he was more interested in working out and socializing than academics when he started college. In fact, at Quinnipiac, he simply stopped going to classes and had dropped out by the end of the first semester. Things didn’t work out for him at SCSU either, so he decided to pursue a different path.

Achlioptas got a job in construction installing swimming pools. “I learned the true definition of what wealth is and what success is from this job. I also saw my friends succeeding in school and I kind of felt stuck,” he says. “I couldn’t do this my whole life. And, by the sixth month of work, everything had changed. I had enough of it. So my only other option was to go for school again.” That’s when he came to NVCC.

“I figured I’m going to go big with nursing or go home,” says Achlioptas.  His advisor helped him develop an academic plan to achieve his goal.  Part of that plan was visiting the Center for Academic Planning and Student Success (CAPSS) regularly to ensure that he remained on track. During his first semester back in school Achlioptas had a new-found motivation. He was engaged in his classes, read books, absorbed the course material and received his first “A” since middle school, he says. 

With a renewed sense of purpose and drive, Achlioptas applied to NVCC’s nursing program. He scored in the 94^thpercentile on the TEAS entrance exam, he says. Then came the news he’d been longing to receive: an acceptance letter. Achlioptas said reading it “was the best feeling I’ve ever felt” and provided another boost to his confidence—resulting in his decision to further put himself out there and try new things. He joined the Phi Beta Kappa honor society, learned to play the harmonica, began learning sign language and even tried his hand at stand-up comedy in New Haven.  “I felt the shockwave of ‘I can do anything’.”

Now starting his second semester as a nursing student, Achlioptas has begun working at CAPSS through the Student Jobs on Campus program. “NVCC has the tools we need to succeed as students—the ACE (Academic Center for Excellence), open labs, CAPPS and small class sizes,” he says.

Achlioptas is focused on completing his degree, furthering his education, beginning a career and giving back to the community. “My biggest problem was an academic lack of motivation—and failure for me was the catalyst for that motivation. I learned to define my failures rather than let my failures define me.” After completing an associate degree, he plans to pursue a bachelor’s degree in nursing—and perhaps a master’s degree. He also has aspirations to travel as a registered nurse and teach students who face the same challenges he did.

“We have the tools here at NVCC to change the lives of everyone that uses these tools—but we need to get people motivated to benefit from these tools like I did.”