Community College of Rhode IslandSuccess Story: Elizabeth Bevilacqua
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HOMETOWN: Fall River
PROGRAM OF STUDY:
Clinical Laboratory Technology
AGE: 25
Elizabeth Bevilacqua already held a degree in molecular biology from SUNY Albany when she enrolled in the Clinical Laboratory Program at the Community College of Rhode Island. “No one was hiring,” she explains of her post-SUNY experience. “So I decided to do another program that I can get a job in.” New to Southern New England, Bevilacqua picked the Clinical Laboratory Program at CCRI not only because it could improve her employment possibilities, but because it had the shortest waiting list of the area’s two-year programs.
The CCRI program is an intense one for any student, with clinical rotations in phlebotomy, urinalysis, hematology, microbiology, chemistry and immunology. Bevilacqua, however, chose to enroll in the college’s honors program, so that in addition to her studies she would be required to complete four different honors projects in her field. Among them were laboratory work on a gastrointestinal bacteria called campylobacter; a study of what foods could skew cholesterol testing results; and a research paper on the bio-terror agent Q fever.
“Being part of the honors program was a lot neater than the regular college route. I know a lot more in-depth material than some of the other students,” she says. “Honestly, I got a closer relationship with the teachers, because I had to meet and discuss my projects with them. They see me as an equal, because we’ve done research together.”
Why did this graduate of a four-year college seek out a community college for further study? She explains, “I’ve been to two-year and four-year colleges, and I love the two-year so much more. At a four-year college, the teachers are more interested in research…. At a two-year college, the faculty members are there because they want to teach—they just want to help you learn.”
As for job prospects, Bevilacqua is getting ready to send out résumés. “I have no worries about getting a job,” she says.
