Meet MCC Alumna Elise Ensing

 

Making the decision to attend Montcalm Community College (MCC) turned out to be the best choice for Elise Ensing and her pursuit of higher education.

 

Ensing, of Gowen, graduated from MCC with high honors in 2017, earning a Liberal Studies Certificate and Associate of Science and Arts. She also completed her basic educational requirements under the Michigan Transfer Agreement, which allows students to complete general education requirements at one college or university, then seamlessly transfer those courses to meet general education requirements at another college or university.

Elise Ensing

Transferring to Grand Valley State University (GVSU) the summer of 2017 to pursue a degree in Diagnostic Cardiovascular Sonography, the 23-year-old named many benefits that came with attending MCC first.

 

“It worked out pretty well with starting at MCC because I was able to knock off a handful of extra classes by transferring into Grand Valley with a degree,” Ensing said, expressing her satisfaction with the MTA. She explained that the MTA saved her both time and money, as she was able to complete a year of general education coursework that she would have most likely had to take upon transferring if she had not attended MCC.

 

Other incentives included scholarships, which Ensing said covered most of her books her first year at MCC. The location was also convenient so she could continue working her job and living at home, not having to worry about moving into a dormitory or renting an apartment.

 

Finally, MCC’s class sizes made a difference in Ensing’s learning experience.

 

“I believe I really benefited from the smaller class sizes, and yet do not feel as if I received any less education than those who went to universities to start with,” she explained.

 

Ensing applied for the well-known Diagnostic Cardiovascular Sonography program at GVSU, adding that her interest in sonography began in her freshman year of high school after job shadowing her uncle.

 

“I applied, got a written interview, an in-person interview, and was accepted into the cardiovascular program. Come to find out, only about 16 students are accepted each year for the cardiac program,” Ensing shared. In the end, she graduated Magna Cum Laude in April 2019.

 

When she is not “looking at people’s hearts with an ultrasound all day” in her roles as Cardiovascular Sonographer or Echo Tech, Ensing spends her spare time working in her vegetable and herb garden, reading, road biking with her boyfriend (whom she met at MCC in her American Literature class), traveling, and spending time with her one-year-old nephew and two-year-old niece.