Nursing Student Goes From So-so in H.S. to Honor Society at FSC
August 24, 2020
Melanie Tencic #11
Talk about doing a “180.”
Nursing student Melanie Tencic ’21 was, in her own words, “not a high achiever” in high school. Then she arrived at FSC in spring 2017, and boy, did she do an about face: President’s List six times and Dean’s List once, and membership in the Golden Key International Honor Society. If she could bottle what she did, no doubt she’d be a millionaire.
“I never liked school, I never studied, and I just went through school enjoying the sports I played and my friends” Tencic says. “I didn’t start trying until college.”
Tencic was jolted into reality when she missed the fall 2016 semester, and went to work at morning and night jobs.
“That made me realize I never wanted to do that ever again. Education was something important to me now, and it was a reality check.”
Tencic’s eyes opened even wider when she set her mind on FSC’s extremely competitive Nursing program. She applied in her junior and seniors years, both times carrying a perfect GPA. But perfection, she learned, was no lock on being enrolled in the program.
“My advisers told me how difficult it would be to get in, and how my grades needed to be the best, and even if they were the best it would be just as hard to get in. This was my motivation, to prove to myself that I can be a hard-working student.”
Tencic was up against it, with more than 1,000 other applications piled up in the Admissions Office. The program’s acceptance rate is about 5 percent – but the former underachiever made it.
“When I got the call that I got into the program, I was the happiest girl in the entire room. All my hard work payed off.”
Working in the medical field took hold of Tencic after she graduated high school, when she began working in a pediatrician’s office. But the seed had been planted years earlier, as she watched her sister battle a near-fatal bout with leukemia. She was treated at Cohen Children’s Medical Center, and Tencic was impressed by the care her sister received by the nursing staff.
“The nurses impacted her life and mine in an amazing way that I will never forget. I hope to be a pediatric nurse, and impact the lives of children and families in a positive way.
“My mom is a nurse, and she always told me how much she loves it, and how good I would be at it.”
Now, this once low achiever is an over achiever, not only because of her grades, but because she’s still at the pediatrician’s office, and is captain of FSC’s women’s lacrosse team. She has a system.
“I am the type of person who never likes to be bored. During the day I usually do my homework and lacrosse practice, and at night or in the mornings I’ll work. During the weekends is when I study. I usually wake up early and study throughout the day. Then at night, I relax and hang out with my friends or family.
“I always like to be doing something, so for me the pressure of knowing that I need to get my homework done, or I need to start studying, and it has to be done by a certain time because of practice or work, has helped me. Sometimes it gets hard and I still get very stressed, but as long as I know exactly what needs to be done, I’ll get it done.”
Since coming to FSC, Tencic has become a leader, too. She is an all-conference athlete, and was named team captain last year.
“I love being captain. I love that the girls on my team can look up to me, and I can be the role model to all the freshmen and underclassmen. I like being in charge, and having an end goal for my team to accomplish together as a family. Being able to push everyone while still having fun is my favorite part.”
In addition to becoming a leader, Tencic has become something of a philosopher, too.
“Life has many ups and downs, and if you asked me four years ago what I would be doing in my life, it would not be this. When life gets hard it is important to see the positive that comes from it.”
