Veterinarian Dr. Ron Carsten is no stranger to blazing his own path. His career started somewhat nontraditionally with a two-year degree in animal health technology from Colorado Mountain College. But instead of becoming a veterinary technician, he became one of the few graduates of the CMC program to pursue veterinary school and earn a DVM from Colorado State University.

After opening a small animal clinical practice, he thought to himself, “I could do more for my patients.”

“I felt frustration not being able to cure everything with conventional medical methods. It stimulated me to look for other solutions,” he says.

The young doctor began studying nutrition, supplements, herbs, homeopathy acupuncture, and other alternative methods. At a time when people were just starting to become aware of alternative treatment for their own health, Dr. Carsten was already exploring what it could do for pets.

After he completed acupuncture training in 1991, Dr. Carsten integrated it into his practice at Birch Tree Animal Hospital in Glenwood Springs. Initially, he says, “It was viewed with some skepticism.” But as time went on, people realized the benefits and sought out acupuncture for their pets and themselves, too.

“There’s a place for conventional medicine, and there’s a place for acupuncture and other modalities,” he says. “It helps to blend things together – it gives us more tools to work with.”

The foundation he received at CMC gave him an edge over fellow veterinary students. “It helped me in my clinical years at school,” he explains. “Doing tasks like anesthesia, patient handling, lab work, blood collection, and surgery were already a part of the experience I had. While everyone else was learning these skills, I could focus on other aspects of veterinary medicine.”

Dr. Carsten has rarely taken a break from his own education. In addition to his DVM, he holds a BS in microbiology, an MS in anatomy and neurobiology and a PhD in cell and molecular biology. He continually advances his own knowledge of holistic and conventional veterinary care.

He says one of the most important is helping to educate pet owners. “I see us working together as a team – myself, my staff, the owner and the pet – together working to achieve a higher quality of life for the pet.”

For many years, Dr. Carsten has written monthly columns for local newspapers. Through his columns, he has informed not just his own clientele but the whole community on important matters of health for pets, including issues of nutrition, diseases, pain and preventative care.

When Tim Hellickson first arrived at Colorado Mountain College, he was more focused on snowboarding than academics. Today, he is at MIT on the team that is developing the world’s largest telescope.

Although he had a less than stellar GPA in high school, the college’s open enrollment admissions process gave Tim the opportunity to take courses at the Spring Valley campus. “I wasn’t really prepared for college,” he admits.

He soon realized that an education would be the only way for him to change his socioeconomic path. Tim got serious about his education, speaking with his professors about what it would take for him to be successful academically.

Initially attending CMC for the outdoor education program, Tim’s interactions with faculty, including Johann Aberger and Rob Wang, led to a focus in physics and a desire to further his education at an engineering school. Tim first met Rob during his chemistry class, a course which he called a “thorough beating.” Having not taken physics or calculus in high school, Tim had some learning deficiencies. They discussed how he could become a better student and be successful in the areas that interested him most, beginning with a proficiency in the fundamentals of mathematics. Rob suggested that he should retake Algebra, a move Tim considered a no-brainer due to the affordability of CMC’s classes. He worked during the day, attending class at night, knowing that this was a way to test to see if he wanted to be serious about his education. Tim then moved on to a calculus course, which went significantly better.

Through personal attention and individual tutoring from Rob, Tim says he first became an average student, then began to excel at CMC. He took advantage of the close proximity of the Aspen Center for Physics, where he engaged with people from all over the world who were discussing their research. This further ignited his passion for physics and engineering.

During his time at Spring Valley, Tim was active in the community, serving as a resident assistant, and connecting outside of the classroom with professors through different outdoor activities, such as climbing. It was these experiences that allowed him to have deeper conversations about life, including what he wanted to do after graduating from CMC. Tim learned about different educational opportunities and that he had the ability to do work involving math and engineering that was challenging and engaging. The discussions ultimately led Tim to develop a plan to maximize his time at CMC in order to further his education after earning his Associates degree. Faculty members continued to encourage his academic progress as classes became more challenging, keeping him focused on achieving his goals.

With assistance from CMC faculty and staff and the RISING program, Tim developed an admissions application for a four-year college which resulted in a full scholarship to University of Idaho. It was the support and encouragement of those in the CMC community that put Tim on track to earn his Bachelors degree from University of Idaho, and a Masters degree from Tufts University. “Without the help from CMC and the personal mentorship, I don’t think I would have had the opportunities to be here. [in academia].”

Today, Tim is busy designing and creating astrophysics instruments to explore the cosmos at MIT’s Kavli Institute in Cambridge, MA. His latest projects are a developing a spectrograph for the Magellan Telescope in Chile as well as spectrograph for what will be the the world’s largest telescope once construction is complete – the Giant Magellan Telescope. He notes that when he looks at his current peer group, there is no one who came from a similar educational background as him.

He credits his time at Spring Valley for helping him discover his passion for physics, math, engineering and opportunities for further education. He advocates that CMC is the best institution he has attended as a student due to the community, culture and smaller class sizes. He worked with dedicated faculty members who had a wealth of experience and were invested in seeing their students succeed both at CMC and beyond. He considers those same faculty members to be his mentors now, and he regularly stays in touch with them.

Spring Valley, ‘09, Associate’s degree in Physics and Leadership Development and Outdoor Education

Following a 30 day NOLS sailing course in the Bahamas, Alex Curtiss wanted to give school another shot. He visited CMC, then decided to move to Glenwood Springs to pursue his education. He came late to college, focusing his time instead on civic engagement and community involvement. “Academia was never my thing,” he says.

Prior to CMC, Alex spent two years doing service work with AmeriCorps in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. He connected with experiential learning and outdoor education, leading him to CMC. Small class sizes and individual attention from professors were key factors in his decision to enroll in one of the first graduating classes of the sustainability program at Spring Valley.

Alex jumped head first into the community as resident advisor – a role he held for most of his time at CMC. Recognizing the unique barriers that first-generation students face, one year Alex turned his entire programming budget into a scholarship contest. When the event concluded a $500 scholarship was awarded to a first-generation student who needed the money to help finance her education.

Alex credits CMC for teaching him how to be a student and how to learn in the way that worked best for him. “You can find your own path and fully dive in. It is an immersive experience.” The CMC community provided Alex with a way to truly connect with people. He explains that there is a transformational attitude among students, faculty and staff to “share this experience together” that makes the college unique. Curtiss notes that several faculty members were critical as his mentors including Sandra Jackson, Adrian Fielder and Johann Aberger, each helping him find his way to tell his story, develop his sense of community and prepare him for the next steps in his education and career.

As Alex looked towards life after graduation, he decided he wanted to delve more into academics. He was accepted to all five graduate programs he applied to, including the prestigious Heller School at Brandeis University, a program he considered a reach based on his academic history. The Top 10 school for social policy accepts around 20 individuals worldwide out of an applicant pool of over 1,000. Alex was more than thrilled to be accepted and he is currently in his second year as a graduate student pursuing a master’s degree in sustainable international development. Following his six-month field practicum in Sri Lanka, Alex looks to continue his career with work involving civic engagement, NGOs, corporate partnerships and foundations.

“I wouldn’t be where I am now if it wasn’t for my experience at the Spring Valley campus,” he says.