When Argelia “Argie” Mendez-Alvarez walked across the stage at Clatsop Community College’s 2026 Commencement Ceremony, it was not her first time wearing the college’s green cap and gown. In fact, it was her third.
This spring, Mendez-Alvarez graduated from Clatsop Community College with her Associate Degree in Nursing, completing a journey that spanned decades, multiple careers, family responsibilities, personal tragedy, and more than a few setbacks. Along the way, she found encouragement from faculty, staff, mentors, and family members who never let her give up on her dream.
Raised in Ilwaco, Washington, Mendez-Alvarez first attended CCC immediately after high school, earning her Associate of Arts Oregon Transfer degree. She entered the workforce and built a career in human resources and quality control at a local seafood processing facility. While she valued the opportunity, she found herself wondering what the future might hold.
The turning point came during a coffee break.
While conducting outreach for CCC’s Adult Basic Education and English as a Second Language programs, Outreach Literacy Tutor Coordinator Eileen “Percy” Purcell struck up a conversation with Mendez-Alvarez.
“Percy asked me where I saw myself in five years,” Mendez-Alvarez recalled. “It made me really think about that. Is my goal to stay in this job or do something different? What are the other options?” Purcell encouraged her to explore possibilities, take classes, and discover a career that aligned with her interests and family goals. “If you want something different, you have to do something different,” Mendez-Alvarez said. “Percy helped me look at degrees and careers. We talked about different jobs and options out there.”
Purcell saw potential in Mendez-Alvarez from the beginning. “I was impressed with her ability to work in a dynamic, multilingual environment,” said Purcell. “She was scheduling crews, conducting safety trainings, and solving complex problems in a fast-paced industry. She was quite poised and held her own in a rough-and-tumble environment.”
With Purcell’s encouragement, Mendez-Alvarez enrolled in CCC’s Medical Assisting program. In 2013, she graduated for the second time from Clatsop Community College and soon began working at Columbia Memorial Hospital. For nearly a decade, she built a rewarding career in healthcare while raising a family with her husband, Victor. Then the COVID-19 pandemic changed everything.
Working in a pediatric clinic, she witnessed the fear and uncertainty families experienced during the pandemic. “When a two-day-old baby came in with COVID, that was the moment I started feeling like I needed to do more,” she said. “Maybe I needed more of a challenge.” Once again, she turned to Purcell for guidance.
“I asked her about nursing,” Mendez-Alvarez said. “Percy helped me get information, never let barriers hang me up, and always focused on what the next step was to accomplish what I wanted.”
CCC’s Nursing Program accepts only 24 students per cohort, and Mendez-Alvarez applied three separate times before earning her spot in 2023. Even after being accepted, the rigorous science prerequisites and nursing coursework demanded intense dedication. “Even before the nursing classes, you must take Anatomy and Physiology. It’s a hard class, but it prepares you for the demands of the nursing program and sets up the expectations of what it will take to become a nurse,” she stated. Mendez-Alvarez maintained part-time work through the prerequisite portion of the program taking classes she could either online or in the evening, but when she reached the point of needing to commit to the daytime in-person classes required for the program, she took the leap, quit her job and focused on training to become a nurse.
Her first year of the program was close to completion, then tragedy struck spring term. A close family member was diagnosed with cancer and later passed away. The emotional toll affected her academic performance, causing her to fall short of the exam scores required to continue with her cohort.
“It was devastating,” she said. “It broke me. After she passed away, I got the notice that I would not be able to continue with my nursing class cohort.”
Faced with the possibility of her dream ending, Mendez-Alvarez once again reached out for help. “I felt like I was being punished,” she said. “I was working hard and trying to do good, but I felt stuck.”
Instead of giving up, she met with both Purcell and then-Nursing Director Doris Jepson. CCC offered her the opportunity to re-enter the program with the following year’s cohort, allowing her to retake coursework and continue pursuing her goal. The setback delayed graduation by a year, but it did not stop her and on June 12th, 2026, Mendez-Alvarez graduated alongside her nursing cohort classmates.
Throughout the journey, her husband stepped in to help manage family responsibilities, often caring for their children while she spent evenings and weekends studying. “He always said that if I wanted to do this, then do it,” Mendez-Alvarez said. “He supported me no matter what.”
Scholarships from the Clatsop Community College Foundation also helped ease financial pressures as she worked toward her degree. As a first-generation college student, Mendez-Alvarez says those resources made a meaningful difference.
“Argie has an indomitable will to finish what she starts,” Purcell said. “She has juggled pressing family and financial responsibilities while continuously upgrading her educational credentials. Nursing was always her end goal, and she achieved it.”
Now that Mendez-Alvarez has graduated, she is taking the NCLEX licensing exam and interviewing for nursing positions throughout the region. Through her clinical rotations, she discovered a passion for emergency medicine and hopes to continue serving local patients while maintaining a healthy balance with family life.
Looking ahead, she is already considering pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Nursing through Oregon Health & Science University, but for now, she is focused on becoming the best nurse she can be. “I love caring for patients,” she said. “I take it seriously. I want to focus on patient care and do it right, and then I’ll look at my next steps.”
Her story is a powerful example of what can happen when determination meets support. Student success often extends beyond the classroom. Faculty and staff work alongside students to help them navigate challenges, identify opportunities, and persist through obstacles that might otherwise prevent them from achieving their goals.
For Mendez-Alvarez, that support made all the difference. “To Eileen Purcell, thank you for seeing potential in me when I couldn’t see it in myself,” she said during CCC’s Nursing Pinning Ceremony. “You taught me to have vision, to dream big, and to believe that being a non-traditional student, Latina woman, wife, and mother did not limit what I could achieve. Your belief in me over the years has changed my life. And in doing so, it has changed the lives of my children.” During the Nursing Pinning Ceremony, Purcell was invited up with the Mendez-Alvarez family to participate in Argie receiving her nursing pin, a moment that defines her completion of the program.
For Purcell, the relationship is now more than advisor and student. “Argie became family,” she said. “Watching her accomplish this goal has been one of the great joys of my career.”
When asked what advice she would give someone considering nursing, Mendez-Alverez’s answer was simple. “You really need to care about people,” she said. “If that’s in your heart, go for it. You’ll see how impactful it is. And know that it’s never too late. If you feel like your life isn’t going anywhere, go ask for help. I wish I would have done that sooner.”
