MATC gave me the skills to go out and do what I want to do and what I love to do.
MaLinda Rost knew she’d be a nurse when she was seven years old.
A relative who worked in the field gave her some medical supplies – a blood pressure cuff and a body measurement tape. Rost was fascinated, then hooked.
“I held on to those things for so long,” Rost recalled. “I always wanted to care for people and to help people. I don’t think I could ever be anything else but a nurse.”
She started her nursing education as soon as she could. As a senior at Oak Creek High School she took courses through Milwaukee Area Technical College’s Dual Enrollment program. “It was a great opportunity,” she said. “I knew what I wanted to do and this was a faster way to get into the field.”
Rost continued at MATC and earned a technical diploma in practical nursing in 2019. This month she will get an associate degree in MATC’s LPN to RN Progression program.
And even her MATC classmates are impressed with Rost’s dedication to the profession. For the second time, she was selected to speak at her pinning ceremony. Rost spoke at her practical nurse pinning in December 2019 and delivered remarks at her registered nurse pinning on Tuesday, Dec. 13.
“It’s very exciting, and I’m really honored,” Rost said. “I’ve been at MATC since I was 17, and pretty soon we’re all going to be nurses. I won’t miss nursing school, but I will miss my classmates. It will be bittersweet.”
“Being student speaker twice shows the respect Rost’s classmates have for her as a student and a person,” said Patty Balistreri, MATC’s Practical Nursing program chair. “It’s a great honor and testament to her character,” she said.
Nursing Instructor Vicki Kent said, “Rost is a motivated learner and conscientious classmate who freely shared her knowledge with others.”
“MaLinda had the compassion to help her peers along the way,” Kent said. “She made her own powerpoints on the content discussed in some of the classes. The powerpoints were very concise and you could tell she put a lot of time into making them. The difference with Malinda was after doing all that work she would share them with her peers who were struggling with the content. She would also meet with them to discuss the material and share study tips that were helpful for her.
“She is a special person and has helped many students with their education at MATC,” Kent added. “That is what makes her stand out.”
Rost plans to start work on her master’s degree in Nursing next spring. “I want to get that going as soon as I can,” she said. “Once you stop going to school, it’s hard to get back into it. I’d like to stay in that groove.”
She also has accepted a nursing position at Milwaukee’s Clement J. Zablocki Veterans' Administration Medical Center, 5000 W. National Avenue. Following graduation, she will finally turn her calling into a career.
“I feel really well prepared. MATC nurses are so well prepared and that is why so many employers really like MATC nurses,” Rost said. “MATC gave me the skills to go out and do what I want to do and what I love to do.”
About MATC: Wisconsin’s largest technical college and one of the most diverse two-year institutions in the Midwest, Milwaukee Area Technical College is a key driver of southeastern Wisconsin’s economy and has provided innovative education in the region since 1912. More than 25,000 students per year attend the college’s four campuses and community-based sites or learn online. MATC offers affordable and accessible education and training opportunities that empower and transform lives in the community. The college offers more than 170 academic programs — many that prepare students for jobs immediately upon completion and others that provide transfer options leading to bachelor’s degrees with more than 40 four-year colleges and universities. Overwhelmingly, MATC graduates build careers and businesses in southeastern Wisconsin. The college is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission.