Coshocton's Melanie Gibson takes pride in being a student leader

NEWARK — Central Ohio Technical College and Ohio State University at Newark recently held a joint scholarship and student leadership dinner.

Student leaders and organizations were honored for their work at Newark and the extended campuses of COTC. The community colleges has branches in Coshocton, Mount Vernon and Pataskala.

Melanie Gibson of the Coshocton received the Kelly Saffle Leadership Award. It's for a student who exemplifies strong and consistent leadership in one or more student organizations.

The nursing student at the Coshocton Campus is an assistant in the Gateway program, which is designed to help students with various educational goals. This includes admissions, College Credit Plus, academic advising, student success and student records.

"Being a student leader is one of the characteristics about myself I take pride in," Gibson said in a press release. "You experience working with a team and learn more about yourself than you ever thought you would. Great things never come from working within your comfort zone."

Gibson originally earned an associate degree through the College Credit Plus program from a college in Canton. She then moved onto a four-year university with a chemistry major. Her plans were to attend medical school from there, but she realized the school and program weren't right for her.

An earlier experience of job shadowing a registered nurse anesthetist made Gibson realize she wanted to be more hands-on with patients.

"Ultimately, I came to the decision that (medical school) was no longer for me. I knew that with nursing you have so many opportunities and different routes to go. There was still a way to get to my end goal, just a different route,” she said in a release.

Gibson splits time between the Coshocton and Newark campuses and also works as a technician for Genesis Healthcare System in Zanesville.

"I know starting something new can be very scary and intimidating at first, but if you know it’s something you want to do, don’t let anything hold you back,” Gibson added.

This article originally appeared on Coshocton Tribune: Melanie Gibson of Coshocton earns award from COTC