I’m so glad I went down this path. This is my calling. It’s so important to be happy with what you do. And I am happy and proud to be an MATC graduate.
In September 2011, as her plane descended to her new home, Alda Malaveci thought, 'ah, America.' Was it the land of opportunity, she wondered. A place where anyone can become anything?
Malaveci was uncertain and unsettled. She had left behind her mother, father and older brother in Albania. She had left behind a career as a popular television and radio reporter and broadcaster. She had left behind lifelong friends.
She had a college degree and could speak five languages, yet she felt adrift. “I came here without really knowing what I would do,” she said.
At the time, her husband, who had moved to the United States six years earlier, was working as a phlebotomist at Walker’s Point Community Clinic, a free clinic that cares mostly for low-income, underserved and non-English-speaking residents.
At his suggestion, she started volunteering there as a medical assistant. She helped with keeping track of patient medication, with drawing blood samples and served as an interpreter for Spanish-speaking patients.
Those simple acts of giving back unleashed a wellspring of compassion and caring in Malaveci.
“The more I did, the more I loved it,” she said. “I loved being at the bedside. I loved the patients. I had always thought of myself as a compassionate person, but once I started working in healthcare, I didn’t know that I had so much inside me.
“I realized I could make a real difference in people’s lives by listening to them, by comforting them and by easing their pain,” she said. “Now I can’t see myself doing anything else.”
She decided to follow her passion. In 2019, she enrolled in Milwaukee Area Technical College and started her prerequisites for the college’s Registered Nursing program. She entered the program in 2023 and earned her associate degree in the spring of 2025.
Today, she works full time at Ascension Columbia St. Mary’s Hospital in Milwaukee and part-time at the Walker’s Point clinic. She and her husband, an MATC nursing graduate who now works at Columbia St. Mary’s, live in Cudahy with their two daughters.
“I’m so glad I went down this path. This is my calling,” Malaveci said. “It’s so important to be happy with what you do. And I am happy and proud to be an MATC graduate.”
Growing up in Albania
Malaveci was born and raised in Korce, Albania, the second-largest city in the country. In high school, she liked to act in theatrical performances. She also did well in languages, learning to speak English, French, Italian and Spanish.
In 2005 she took a job as a newscaster and reporter for a television and radio station in her hometown. In 2008 she graduated from Fan S. Noli University in Korce with a bachelor’s degree in sociology.
Her then-boyfriend’s family won a lottery organized by the U.S. Diversity Immigrant Visa Program, which allows people from countries with historically low immigration rates to the United States to apply for visas.
He and his family headed to Wisconsin, and the couple began an extremely long-distance relationship. “I wouldn’t recommend it,” Malaveci said with a laugh.
Coming to MATC
When Malaveci decided to go into nursing, she followed her husband’s example and enrolled at MATC. “People asked me why not go to Marquette or University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee,” she said. “I didn’t want to have that much debt.”
Being an international student, Malaveci was concerned about attending MATC. But any reluctance quickly disappeared after she started classes. “There is so much support at MATC, so much more than I ever thought,” she said. “In the beginning, I relied heavily on my advisors. They give you a path and show you the way.”
She started the Registered Nursing program in 2023. At 37 years old and with two young daughters, Malaveci was one of the more experienced students in her cohort.
“I think some of the students in our class were closer to Alda than their own parents,” said Elle Honerbaum, a classmate who graduated with Malaveci. “We could talk to her about anything. She is such a beautiful person.”
Her high standing with her peers was confirmed in May when Malaveci received MATC’s Maxine Mann Leadership Award at the nursing pinning ceremony. The award is named for a nursing instructor who worked at MATC for 24 years and given to a graduating student who demonstrates outstanding leadership traits.
“Alda is an exceptional individual. As a student, she was highly motivated, focused and receptive to learning,” said Melba Redmond, an MATC nursing instructor. “She approached nursing school with dedication and a genuine eagerness to grow in the profession. Her compassion and maturity stood out, both in the classroom and in clinical settings.
“What was particularly inspiring was how she balanced the demands of school, family and marriage with grace and determination” Redmond added. “She consistently maintained a positive attitude, serving as a strong role model not only for her peers but also for her children.”
After receiving her MATC degree, Malaveci passed the National Council Licensure Examination, a standardized exam that tests the competency of nursing candidates and determines if they are prepared for entry-level nursing practice, on her first try.
She works during the week at a progressive care unit at Columbia St. Mary’s and still volunteers at Walker’s Point. Her husband works weekends as an emergency department nurse. They get help caring for their daughters, now 8 and 12 years old, from her husband’s mother, who lives with them.
This fall, Malaveci plans to start classes to get her bachelor’s degree in nursing, either at UWM or at an online college. Eventually she would like to be a nurse educator or a teacher.
For in America, she has discovered, anything is possible.
“Milwaukee and where we are reminds me a lot of where I came from,” she said. “There are so many beautiful things to see and to learn and to do. It’s not all perfect here, but I feel like I belong here. This is where I found myself.”
Learn more about MATC’s Registered Nursing program
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 30,000 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 180 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.