Erika Tincau

When Erika Tincau recently went through her pinning ceremony to mark the completion of her Purdue University North Central Nursing degree, her 10-year-old son presented her with her hard-earned pin.

That simple act symbolized the end of a long, sometimes difficult, oftentimes emotional journey, and represented the beginning of a new adventure in Tincau’s life.

Tincau came to this country in 1995. A Hungarian ethnic from Romania, she did not know the language, but came here with her husband. After their divorce, she had to look for a job. With no job skills and limited command of the language she took a job in a factory. Even though she progressed to a better job, she continued to be vexed by a slow job market and company downsizing. In her words she had no money, no insurance and a son to support.

“This was my lowest point,” she said. “I knew I needed to do something.” She knew that education was the solution.

In her European high school she excelled in biology and chemistry. A career in nursing seemed like a good fit. When Tincau began inquiring about local nursing programs she said that she was consistently referred to Purdue North Central.

“Everyone knows that Purdue North Central has the best nursing program,” she said. “Coming here was the right thing for me to do.”

The first person Tincau met at Purdue North Central was Janice Whisler, assistant director of Admissions.

Whisler, said Tincau, “was awesome.” She answered her questions and calmed her fears. She made sure her applications and her paperwork were  always in order.

But Tincau encountered a problem when taking her placement tests. Tincau explained that the synonyms and antonyms tripped her up. She found she needed to work on her language skills and improve her writing. And she did not have a transcript from her Romanian high school to prove she’d completed those studies.

Tincau was referred to an English as a Second Language class. She not only found help with her language skills, but was referred to a GED program for a high school diploma that would be accepted everywhere.

She also took some classes at Ivy Tech Community College. She studied hard and found the instructors were encouraging and helpful.

“They worked with me and pushed me when I needed it. They weren’t giving up on me,” she said. Tincau earned straight As.

She came back to visit with Whisler at PNC. Tincau entered the Nursing program in the spring of 2005.

She admits that at some points she was so discouraged she cried. She threatened to quit. As a single mother, she had a lot of responsibilities. She is a little bit older than the “traditional” PNC students and felt a little out of place.

A friend referred her to PNC’s Student Support Services. Director Gail Barker took the time to talk to her, to listen to her, to encourage her.

“Like my right hand, she was always there. If I had a question, she’d find the answer. I found what I was looking for at Student Support Services. I felt like I fit in,” said Tincau.

She helped her son, David, with his homework, then started on hers. She’d get up early to study and arrange her studies around his schedule. David came first, and she promised that if his school work started to decline, she would adjust hers. But she also was determined to succeed on her own. She promised herself she was not going to fail, she was not going to give up.

Today, David is an A student with a few Bs thrown in. Mom graduated with a 3.9 grade point average – all As with just one B.

She credits her success to her PNC professors.

“They are all excellent. All of them have different teaching styles, but they will accept nothing short of excellence,” she said. “I don’t think the program gets the credit it deserves. The professors put in a lot of hours, they work so hard to make sure we learn.”

Tincau noted that the PNC Nursing faculty have an orientation session for incoming students. They warn the friends and family of the new nursing students that the student will need their total support.

While her family remains in Romania, she always knew that her parents and siblings had were behind her and that gave her the confidence to continue.

Her boyfriend was always there for her, too. He gave her time to study and helped with the details that needed tending to from time to time to ensure she didn’t take her focus from class and studies.

She continues to credit her success to her professors, her friends, her classmates, her family, her mentors and others she’s encountered these past few years.

She summed it up, “I always had people around me to help me. They all accepted me, they pushed me, they calmed me, they helped me find what I was looking for.”

Tincau is now looking for employment as an Intensive Care Unit (ICU) nurse. In time, she’d like to return to school, her eyes set on ultimately earning a master’s degree.

Her advice to others is, “Make sure you do your research. Nursing is difficult. Very difficult, Make sure the school, the program is right for you. If I can do it, you can do it. I said that it’s not over until I say it’s over. And I was not willing to ever give up.”

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