A Family of Nurses Turns to CCM to Pursue Their Passion

 

Gulay LoderSome professions – such as lawyers and doctors – become a family tradition. For Gulay Loder, of Rockaway, and her daughter, that profession is nursing and the place they got started is County College of Morris (CCM).

Loder first enrolled in CCM’s Nursing Program in the 1990s but left when she got married so she could have a family and raise her children. As her children got older, however, her desire to become a nurse only grew stronger. In 2014, she re-enrolled at CCM and set the goal of being accepted once again into the Nursing Program.

 

Reaching for Your Goals

“You only have one life, so I believe you need to reach for your goals,” says Loder. “I made sure I aced all my classes my first semester so they would reconsider me for the Nursing Program.” Her plan succeeded and, once again, Loder was on the pathway to becoming a nurse. This time she finished the program, earning her Associate in Applied Science in Nursing in January. Before she finished, her daughter, Kayla Skibicki, of Sparta, joined her in the program. Shortly after being accepted into the Nursing Program, Skibicki found out she was pregnant and debated whether she should set aside those plans and just focus on her job as an emergency room technician.

“I told her, she could do it,” says Loder. “I did it at 42 as a single mom, while working as a nursing assistant, and I knew she could do it if it was something important to her.”

Like her mother, Skibicki had long dreamed of becoming a nurse. She had initially enrolled at Rutgers University with that goal, but was put on the wait list for the nursing program. She earned her bachelor’s degree in public health instead and then turned to CCM to earn her nursing degree. She and her mother next plan to earn their Bachelor of Science in Nursing in Ramapo College’s online program.

Not only did mother and daughter choose CCM to pursue their passion, Skibicki’s fiancé, Robert Pregno, also has enrolled at the college to earn his nursing degree.

“There’s a higher purpose in nursing that appeals to us,” notes Loder. “We’re proud to be a family of nurses who picked CCM to get our start.”