After many false starts, a mother finally gets back on track in a medical certification program
Elo Pantoja, 42, has long dreamed of becoming a nurse. After she graduated high school in 2001, she started taking the required pre-nursing courses, but was sidetracked by the birth of her daughter, now 20. When Pantoja resumed her pursuit of nursing in 2009, she again was sidetracked—this time by the birth of her son, now 15.
“I guess third time’s the charm,” Pantoja says now.
Pantoja’s latest attempt has brought her to the Lompoc Adult School and Career Center (LASCC), which offers a wide variety of classes to students of all ages in and around Santa Barbara County. Attendees can enroll in high school diploma classes, English as a Second Language (ESL) classes, and, like Pantoja, medical certification programs.
Pantoja is now enrolled in the LASCC’s phlebotomy program, which teaches aspiring healthcare professionals how to collect blood samples from patients. The eight-week course combines online learning with in-person training, the latter which involves students coming to campus once a week to watch presentations, fulfill testing requirements, and even practice jabbing each other with needles.
“If I could do it all over again, I’d probably stick to school the first time around. But everything happens for a reason.”
Elo Patoja, Student, Lompoc Adult School and Career Center
“Everybody’s fair game,” Pantoja says. “If I poke you, you poke me. There’s no reservations.”
Pantoja says she values the trusting relationship she has with her classmates, as well as her instructor, Becky Flores, who’s worked as a phlebotomist for over 20 years.
“We all get along and we’re on the same page,” Pantoja says.
Once the class concludes, Pantoja and her classmates will work a 40-hour externship at Flores’ workplace, the Lompoc Valley Medical Center. There, students will receive real-world experience as they practice intravenous pokes and blood draws on patients.
In the meantime, Pantoja works full-time at a local eye center as a surgery counselor, a job she’s had for six years. She also continues to expand her education. In June, she received an associate’s degrees in both liberal arts and science and behavioral health from Allan Hancock College. Currently, she is on the wait list to get into the school’s associate’s in nursing program, a wait which can take two to three years.
Once she secures her associate’s in nursing, Pantoja says she hopes to help some of medicine’s most vulnerable groups.
“I like working with older adults, like the geriatric group,” Pantoja says. “I feel like they’re the most misunderstood group, along with children.”
The daughter of Mexican immigrants, Pantoja also wants to help Spanish-speaking patients, who often struggle with the language barrier.
Pantoja credits her parents, children—which include a stepdaughter, 21, and her domestic partner of 16 years for supporting her journey through adult education. The secret to their support, Pantoja says, is “non-judging.”
“If I could do it all over again, I’d probably stick to school the first time around,” Pantoja says. “But everything happens for a reason.”
To any adult considering going back to school, but afraid to take the first—or third—step, Pantoja offers a simple message.
“Do it—it’s never too late,” she says. “You’ve just got to do what’s right for you.”
For more information on the Lompoc Adult School and Career Center’s high school degree program visit https://adulteducation.lusd.org/.
Written by Jimmy Flynn
| Regions | Classes & Topics |
|---|---|
| South Coast California | Careers in Health Care |
