“I’ve always had a thing for medicine,” he says. “Even as a kid, if I was kind of my own doctor. If I had cuts or bruises, I’d fix them myself. I was pulling my own teeth out when they were ready. I pulled out the last [baby tooth] when I was 9 years old.

 “I wanted to be a clinical surgeon. But I’ve always thought it was interesting what goes into the research that goes into developing tools used in surgery.”

At the NIH,Ulisses Santana will research how the retina processes images and transmits them to the brain.

 He has worked as a volunteer at the Spotsylvania Regional Medical Center, mostly in the emergency room.

Now the 18-year-old Spotsylvania County native has become one of the early success stories for Germanna’s new Experiential Learning internship program. Through the program, Ulisses has landed a summer internship at the National Institute for Health.

 He will be mentored by Dr. Alon Poleg-Polsky in research involving the structure and function of the retina at the National Institute of Neurological Disease and Stroke in Bethesda. The work will involve investigation into how the retina performs preliminary image processing and transmits visual information to the brain.

His father immigrated from El Salvador in 1989 to escape a civil war there.  His mother followed a year later.  

“For my mom, it was a better opportunity to work over here and send money back home,” he said. “At the same time,there was a war going on in El Salvador.  Instead of going into the civil war, they told him it would be better to come to the United States to avoid that.”

  Ulisses is the first member of his immediate family to go to college. His father works as a home renovator.

He credits Gary Brightbill, an 8^th grade science teacher at Battlefield Middle School who was honored as one of Spotsylvania County’s best teachers for 2013, with piquing his interest in science. “He set off the spark,” Ulisses says. Faculty members at Germanna have fanned that spark into a flame, he says.

 “I always planned to come to Germanna from the moment I began my freshman year at Courtland. “It’s less expensive than four-year schools and I’ve had good teachers here.  Dr. Trudy Witt, for biology, is one of my favorites.  Prof. Mike Shirazi in math—that man is great. And [Prof. Shawn Shields-Maxwell] is a pretty awesome chemistry teacher.”

Germanna biology Prof. Trudy Witt recognized Santamaria’s potential

Prof. Trudy Witt says: “Ulisses is an excellent student … His love of life and enthusiasm for science is contagious. He was a pleasure to have in class.”

 Cheri Ober, Germanna’s internship program coordinator, says Ulissis has been working his way through college by delivering pizzas. This summer the paid NIH internship will give him the chance to earn money doing work related to his career goal for the first time, she says.

To learn more about Germanna’s internship program, email Ober at cober@germanna.edu or go to http://www.germanna.edu/Students/Experiential_Learning_Center/for_students/

An’aan Avant

An’aam Avant, who was the student speaker at Germanna Community College’s Spring Commencement last night, initially had doubts about GCC.

Having been home schooled until she entered GCC at age 16 through the college’s Dual Enrollment program as the equivalent of a high school junior, she wasn’t quite sure what to expect.

“At first I had the stereotypical ‘less than’ attitude about Germanna,” she said. “What made me fall in love with Germanna was the faculty. The teachers were there for me. They really cared about my well being and they continue to care and I know they will still be there for me in the future.

“I’ve spoken with friends attending universities and they’ve told me they don’t see the same kind of attention and caring there that we do at Germanna.”

Avant received her associate’s degree at age 18 last night thanks to Germanna’s Dual Enrollment program, which allows high school and home schooled students to earn college credit inexpensively.

Germanna Nursing Idol contest RN winner Faith Resto

Faith Resto of Fredericksburg won the RN portion and Emily Lunceford of Caroline County won the LPN phase of Germanna Community College’s Third Annual Nursing idol competition at the Daniel Technology Center in Culpeper Friday. The competition, held before a crowd of about 400 nursing students, faculty and local healthcare officials, is a combination of American Idol, Who Wants to be a Millionaire? without the lifelines, and ER.  Students answer questions from a panel of medical expert judges on how they’d handle cases.

“Nursing Idol is a wonderful way to demonstrate the quality of our nursing program and students,”  said Germanna President David A. Sam. “These young people have to stand up in front of all their peers and answer extremely tough questions under pressure–in many cases, questions you would expect a doctor to answer. They demonstrate all that they learned and that they are able to think on their feet critically and solve problems  And it’s exactly the kind of thing they’ll have to do in the real world.”

“Under pressure, they’ll have to apply everything they know. It shows that we’ve got a  fine program with great teachers and great students,” Sam said.

Dean of Nursing Mary Gilkey said the poise student competitors demonstrated is developed in GCC’s high-tech Virtual Hospital at the Locust Grove Campus, where computerized human simulators are used. They talk, telling students their symptoms, and respond to treatment just as a human patient would. They get well if given proper treatment and may “die” if they don’t receive appropriate care.

The students also get real life clinical experience at area health care facilities. But in the Virtual Hospital, they can safely be allowed to take charge without risk to patients and to deal with scenarios a nurse must handle in a hospital, including family members who are upset and even simulated attempts at stealing newborn simulator babies.

GCC Middle College Director Carolyn Bynum and student Sarah Pfeiffer at GCC Educational Foundation Reception

Germanna Community College President David A. Sam told students in the crowd at Friday’s Annual GCC Educational Foundation Scholarship Reception that in addition to thanking donors personally, “The very best thing you can do to pay back that investment is to succeed.”

“We want to thank the McDaniels for all you’ve been and done, for your
 model of leadership and service,” said Germanna President David A. 
Sam. “It will be hard for anyone to follow in your footsteps.”

“Together, you have served this community … in economic development
 and job creation, philanthropy and community service,” said the foundation’s Distinguished Person of the Year Committee Chair Darla K. Burton.

Mary Wynn and Charles G. McDaniel at Germanna’s Distinguished Person of the Year event Friday at the Fredericksburg Country Club

“Mary Wynn and I are both very strong on family and education,” Charles McDaniel said in accepting the GCCEF 2013 Distinguished Person of the Year Award at the Fredericksburg Country Club. 
He said that despite the fact that the family was not always well 
off, four generations of McDaniels had gone from public school at
 James Monroe High School to highly regarded colleges like the University of Richmond
 and the University of Virginia.
“The world of education has changed” in a way that makes
 higher education seems out of reach to too many, he said.
 “The reason we’re here is to support Germanna.”

“Germanna is the ideal answer to many of our problems,” he said. “It allows 
people with very little resources to go and get an education. Germanna trains a lot of the workforce, whether it be the nurses at
 Mary Washington [Hospital], truck drivers–they train all kinds of 
people,” he said.

He said that when Gov. Mills Godwin created the state’s community
college system 50 years ago, he did so to make higher education and 
job training affordable and accessible to all. “Today, community
 colleges are not getting the resources they need from the state,”
Charles McDaniel said. “That’s why we have to come out tonight and 
support them to the extent that we can.

“Mary Wynn and I are both 
humbled and embarrassed by this honor. We are not embarrassed to
 support Germanna.”

“Not everybody can go to the University of Virginia or William & 
Mary, but practically everybody can go to a community college,” he
 said. “That’s why the state ought to support it, that’s why we ought
 to support it. It’s teaching people how to work and get jobs and go on
 and get a four-year degree if they want it. So we are here tonight to 
support the Germanna effort.”

U.S. Rep. Rob Wittman thanks Charles G. McDaniel for his good works during GCCEF Distinguished Person of the Year event Friday night.

Mary Wynn McDaniel told the crowd that filled the country club
 banquet hall: “We really do appreciate all of you coming tonight. It just warms our hearts to see all of you here to support Charlie and myself and Germanna.”

The award has been given since 2009 for exemplary service to the 
community over an extended period of time. Past winners have been Jane
 Ingalls, Sen. John Chichester, Ed Allison and Fred Rankin.

Germanna student Robert Lewis of Spotsylvania

Robert Lewis says he’s been around “a lot of knuckleheads getting into trouble.”

But the man known to friends as Rob Lew wanted to make a difference, and he realized that to do that, he’d need to go to college, so he got a federal grant and enrolled at Germanna Community College last fall.

Robert Lewis, at left, with Germanna student delegation that lobbied the General Assembly last week to maintain the affordability of Germanna’s community colleges

     ”One of the things I’ve noticed is that a lot of students are going through the motions,” he said. “They don’t take the time to become involved and engaged. If you slow down and keep your eyes and ears open a lot of doors will open for you, a lot of opportunities for really great things. Too many people pass those opportunities by.”

    He says his vision for the poetry club “is to create an atmosphere where students can come and express themselves. I want them to be able to network so they can collaborate. Music and poetry provide the opportunity for them to come and express themselves and build themselves up and share their gifts. Combining music and poetry has been a great way of dealing with things, with stress–a good way to release your feelings.”

   When he started at Germanna last fall he was planning to go into psychology. He’s had a change of heart. Now he wants some kind of career in communications, he says. He plans to transfer to Virginia Commonwealth University.

   “Psychology is helping one person at a time. In communications, I can take what I’ve learned in psychology, public service and community service and apply it. I’m not sure what I want to do, but I want to help people on a big scale.”

     He already volunteers with the Red Cross and RCASA. He’s a mentor and a Big Brother.

Germanna President David A. Sam during General Assembly visit with students Theo Felder and Robert Lewis.

     Robert said Germanna psychology Prof. Gayle Wolfe has made a difference in his life and those of other students.

    “She’s really paved the way for people to become successful,” he said. “She’s great.”

David Broadhurst of Stafford County is helping Germanna Community College’s Center for Workforce & Community Education launch an intelligence and homeland security training program.

The future is not as glamorous as the past.

But it’s smarter.

So when David A. Broadhurst taught people to be spies, it wasn’t the macho, cloak- and- dagger, martini-drinking, shaken-not-stirred, Bond… James Bond … type.

No, Broadhurst, a Stafford County resident who started up the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency’s own college, trained 21^st century Star Trek-geek type spooks.

He shaped the futuristic intelligence and Homeland Security operatives who use satellites, drones, pixels and computers, play war games and whose drink of choice is more likely a Diet Coke than a martini.

Broadhurst’s job was to “enhance” 5,000 NGA employees.

Now he’s taken what he learned doing that and is applying it to intelligence and homeland security training at Germanna Community College’s Center for Workforce & Community Education at the Fredericksburg Area Campus in Spotsylvania.

He’s helped Germanna’s Center for Workforce build a program that includes short but intensive courses in Critical Infrastructure Protection, Cyber Security,  Risk Assessment & Management, an introductory course about terrorism and many more.

“We have a stable of instructors, all senior intel folks, who are very well qualified,” Broadhurst said.

“Some of the courses cover an overview of the U.S. intelligence community, critical thinking,  intelligence analysis—how an analyst makes assessments..”

Broadhurst said the target audience includes adults with degrees who are seeking to add credentials that will help them get jobs in the intelligence community, and in homeland security, both public and private;  military personnel making the transition to the private sector;  and young people seeking to begin careers related to national security.

Germanna Vice President of Workforce, Community and Institutional Advancement Jeanne Wesley says intelligence and homeland security training offers a path to career-switchers asking, “How can I take my life skills and what I’ve learned in the past and package them in a way that helps?”  They can quickly add valuable skills that are in demand, she says.

There will be a course that focuses on the fundamentals of advanced geospatial intelligence,  an introduction to reconnaissance and surveillance, homeland security vs. intelligence, protecting critical infrastructure and protecting key resources from attack and on dealing with natural disasters– leading to FEMA certification, he said.

A course on risk assessment prepares students to deal with hazards and threats, Broadhurst says.

Cyber-attacks are now considered by some to be the most grave threat to national security. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta has warned Congress that “the next Pearl Harbor” is likely to be a cyber-attack.

Private companies and government agencies around the region must fend off such attacks, and cyber security certification is part of the new Workforce program. Germanna also offers a for-credit cyber security class.

Broadhurst said a wave of Baby Boomer retirements is coming that will create many openings at the Department of Homeland Security and intelligence community agencies.

Go to http://www.germanna.edu/Academics_And_Student_Services/Class_Schedule/?type=noncredit or call 540/891-3012 for more information and to register.

Daniel Rodriguez is greeted by Clemson football fans before a game.

This Veterans Day is a special one for former Germanna Community College and Brooke Point High School student Daniel Rodriguez.

Rodriguez, who earned both a Bronze Star and Purple Heart while serving in the U.S. Army in Afghanistan, has seen a dream come true this fall.

He made the Clemson football team as a walk-on, and led the Tigers onto the field carrying an American flag prior to the team’s  Oct. 21, Military Appreciation Day win over Virginia Tech.

Rodriguez’ fight was far from over after tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan that saw him wounded and decorated for valor.

He was a football star at Brooke Point in Stafford County, but he was too small for a football scholarship. His father suffered a heart attack and passed away four days after Daniel graduated. Without a scholarship or a father, he felt he couldn’t afford college, so he enlisted in the Army.

In Afghanistan, when his unit of 60 men came under attack by 300 Taliban, he saw a buddy shot in the head. Daniel exposed himself to enemy fire to help his friend and was shot in the shoulder and took shrapnel in both legs as he fought his way through the Taliban to reach him and drag him out of the line of fire. Then he realized his buddy was dead.

He returned home with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and night terrors. Using the G.I. Bill, he attended Germanna, and he credits he GCC with helping him decompress. GI Jobs Magazine recently included Germanna in its 2013 list of Military Friendly Colleges.

“My time at Germanna was incredible,” Rodriguez said. “In a nutshell, I made the transition from combat to classroom. Germanna really made me feel at home. There’s been nothing but support. It’s been awesome. I loved it.”

In July 2012, USA Today reported that Rodriguez’  “scholastic record at Germanna recently earned him a letter of acceptance from the South Carolina college.”

In December 2011, a YouTube video  showing Daniel working out and running pass routes caught the attention of a number of major college coaches, and he transferred to Clemson this fall.

Working out to try to catch a college coach’s eye, he said, helped him deal with PTSD. So, he said, did the atmosphere at Germanna.

USA Today featured Rodriguez in a story about the way the Army has changed its approach to dealing with mental illness due to the high suicide rate among active duty soldiers and veterans.

“It was tough for me to go to counseling,” he told USA Today’s Gail Sheehy. “But as I opened up more and more, it helped me to get my feelings out and understand it’s OK to talk about it to other people, my friends, my mom — don’t bottle it up.”

Anne Holton, former First Lady of Virginia, toured Germanna Community College’s Daniel Technology Center in Culpeper today. GCC Center for Workforce Businesss & Career Coordinator Ben Sherman, at right, told her about industrial maintenance and homeland security classes and summer courses intended to get grade schoolers interested in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) early, including a Video Game Maker class.

Former Virginia First Lady Anne Holton toured Germanna Community College’s Daniel Center in Culpeper today after a visit to the University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg. It was part of a series of visits to college campuses across the Commonwealth. Her husband,  former Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine, is running for the U.S. Senate against George Allen, another former Virginia governor who is also a former senator.

She talked with GCC Vice President for Administrative Services Rick Brehm and Germanna Center for Workforce & Community Education Business and Career Coordinator Ben Sherman about workforce training that’s closing the skills gap by preparing students to take jobs area companies need to fill.

“I love the workforce-community college connection,” Holton said. “It’s so important.”

She praised Germanna and other Virginia community colleges for working with businesses to help steer students toward careers in fields that are hiring. She also lauded the Virginia Community College System career coaches program, which places advisors in high schools.

From 1998 to 2005, Holton was a  Richmond Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court judge. She said too many of the young people she saw in court had no idea what they wanted to do in life or even what the possibilities were.

Susan Allen made stops on her husband’s behalf  at restaurants in Stafford and Fredericksburg today.