Finish What You Started: Katie Anderson

Katie Anderson lives in Avon and takes classes online and at the CMC Vail Valley at Edwards campus. She completed her emergency medical technician certificate at Colorado Mountain College, passed the state certification test and now works for an ambulance service.

She also wanted to get a paramedic certificate, so she started those classes at CMC. Katie, 37, received a Finish What You Started grant to help with college expenses.

Part of the Colorado Opportunity Scholarship Initiative at CMC, the Finish What You Started program can provide students with up to $4,000 based on a student's field of study and financial need. If students remain in good standing, their grants can be renewed.

"It's been super helpful," she said. "Especially at this stage of my life, with kids and a family."

Katie juggles family life with classes and work shifts.

"Education costs money, so it's been great" to have the grant, she said. "I'm getting great experience working on an ambulance and I'm slowly taking classes for the paramedic certificate. I'm kind of on a five-year plan."

Katie said once she earns a paramedic certificate, she might decide to be a paramedic with Eagle County Paramedic Services or work in the hospital. “Either way, my EMT certificate has already opened the door to so much opportunity,” Katie said.

Finish What You Started: Miranda Murphy

Miranda Murphy lives in Rifle where she takes Colorado Mountain College classes online and at the Rifle campus. She will earn her Associate of Arts degree and then plans to pursue a bachelor's degree in sustainability studies.

Miranda learned about Finish What You Started through CMC’s TRIO Student Support Services program, which offers several federally funded programs to help low-income students enter and graduate from college.

Part of the Colorado Opportunity Scholarship Initiative at CMC, the Finish What You Started program can provide students with up to $4,000 based on a student's field of study and financial need. If students remain in good standing, their grants can be renewed.

"I was coming back to college after 20 years so it was right down my alley," Miranda said of the grant. "It really helps out because I'm a full-time student, I'm an older student and have things like a mortgage."

Miranda said the program and CMC have been "helpful and amazing."

Miranda’s grant has helped to ensure her internet service is paid up so she can take classes and pay similar expenses that support her education.

"CMC makes it very easy to find the information I need,” she said. “They have a lot of workshops that are very helpful, too. The Finish What You Started program definitely serves a purpose and will really help me finish my education."

Finish What You Started: Erikka Saueressig

Erikka Saueressig lives in Aspen and attends the CMC Spring Valley campus outside Glenwood Springs, where she is a veterinary technician student.

"I grew up here and knew CMC was affordable, so I enrolled," Erikka said. "I think I read about the Finish What You Started grant in an email that said I qualified."

Part of the Colorado Opportunity Scholarship Initiative at CMC, the Finish What You Started program can provide students with up to $4,000 based on a student's field of study and financial need. If students remain in good standing, their grants can be renewed.

Erikka had just moved out of her parent's home, so the grant offered timely financial assistance.

"Last semester, we had to get rabies vaccines shots [for a class] for ourselves and I paid for it with that money," she said. "That was around $800. It's also helped me pay my bills."

Like other grant recipients, Erikka attended college earlier in life but didn't finish "for several reasons. Then COVID-19 hit so I had to take a break," she said.

Erikka started the vet tech program at Spring Valley in 2021 and plans to finish her college education in 2023.