To borrow from Irene Cara, Academy Award-winning singer/songwriter, Justine Vescio intends to dance right through her life. A fitness instructor, dance teacher and weight trainer, the Macomb student is pursuing two (more) degrees at Macomb in Exercise Science, and Health and Wellness Promotion (WHES collectively) while teaching at a fitness center and two dance studios.

“I received my health and life coaching certifications and I am working toward my personal training certification,” relates Vescio of two of the opportunities the complementary WHES programs have presented her. “After completing my associate degree in General Studies last May, I decided that also having (the other two) degrees on my resume would give me some credibility for when I want to launch my career.”

Making the leap to fitness

A 2020 homeschooled high school graduate, as well as a world (Columbia and Europe) traveler, Vescio has studied dance regularly since middle school. Her preference is jazz and hip hop but it was years of ballet training that led to her performance at the Detroit Opera House in a Ballet Met production of The Nutcracker.

“I love how dance is a combination of strength and art. I love being able to get lost in the music and move my body to express a story,” relates Vescio. “I have thought about being a professional dancer but dance careers are super short, and if you so much as twist your ankle the wrong way, your career could be over.”

Instead, Vescio discovered a wider path toward job fulfillment.

“I chose Exercise Science because I will be able to share my love for health and fitness with others,” says Vescio. “My goals are to start my own practice helping people achieve optimal fitness.”

Online and on pointe

In Macomb’s Exercise Science program, Vescio is learning about lifestyle and disease, cardio fitness, strength training, nutrition, stress management, exercise physiology and more. The Health and Wellness Promotion program shares much of the same coursework, as well as additional courses in public health education and the prevention and treatment of a variety of psychological and physical conditions through exercise and diet.

“I really enjoyed going to school at Macomb and I was disappointed when we were not able to go to class on campus,” shares Vescio. “But once I was used to online classes, I loved it. I am enjoying what I am learning and excited about the future.”

During the pandemic, Vescio started lifting weights to keep in shape. She instantly “fell in love” with weight training and from that her interest in the fitness industry began to take shape.

“My plan for the future is to have a successful personal training business, and health and life coaching programs, says Vescio, “and I plan to teach dance the rest of my life.”

Claudia Nowicki’s work involves using a laser to build magnetic beads that bind to the body’s RNA, discovering information that could improve our ability to fight disease. Not bad for a Macomb student one year out of high school.

“Honestly, I never thought this could happen at a community college level,” Nowicki said. “I was thrilled and shocked that an opportunity like this could happen to Regular Joe me.”

Nowicki was admitted to the Early College of Macomb, which allowed her to take college classes at Macomb during her last two years at Romeo High School. She connected with one of her Macomb biology professors, Dr. Joseph Michalewicz, who recommended her for an internship at Detroit-based Life Magnetics. The company had recently received $25,000 in start-up funding from the Innovation Fund Macomb Community College, Powered by JPMorgan Chase & Co., which also created an opportunity for a Macomb student to work there.

“I wouldn’t have it without my professor – he was kind enough to think of it,” said Nowicki. “This has hit it right on the dot for me. The medical field has a huge range of different things to choose from. This has helped me narrow down the specifics.”

Nowicki has balanced her internship and schoolwork while also managing a retail store. Part of her solution has been to fit in online classes around the rest of her schedule.

“I really love the online courses that Macomb offers,” she said. “I’ve taken three up to this point and they’ve been great. I always feel like the professors of my online courses seem to be very understanding and helpful despite being virtual.”

Nowicki is making plans to transfer to Wayne State for a pharmacology degree, which should be a little easier thanks to both the work experience and connections she’s made from interning downtown.

“This has been the #1 best thing to prepare me to move on to a university,” she said. “It was definitely a stepping stone for that high-school-to-university transition that I would recommend to anybody.”

With La La Land an early favorite for Golden Globe and Oscar honors, members of the Macombers are no doubt cheering the revival of the Hollywood musical. And for one of these singing ambassadors, the film may remind of another palm-treed haven of which many dreams have been made.

“When I was 15, my mom was transferred to Maui,” relates Veronica Russell, who grew up in Ortonville in Oakland County. “We drove to California, flew to Hawaii and lived in a hotel for a few months before we found an apartment. I’m so glad to have had that experience.  Back then, though, it was a little hard. I missed my friends.”

While Maui offered many sunny distractions, Veronica spent a fair share of her time in high school productions.  When she was invited to join the Macombers in 2016, her repertoire included My Fair Lady, Phantom of the Opera and Cinderella. She had moved back to Michigan by then, after the pull of other family, friends and snow proved too great to resist.

“My dad had just moved from Georgia to Clinton Township and offered me a place to stay. I had never been to Macomb County before, all I knew was that it had a great community college,” relates Veronica, a history major. “My aunt was a Macomber in the 1980s, and she encouraged me to audition. I was too scared the first year, but last spring decided to try.  I absolutely love it.”

The Macombers rehearse five hours a week, average 40 performances a year and receive scholarships to compensate for the time they dedicate to the troupe. For Veronica, shown here before a Macombers’ performance with a very special guest, there is also something else that keeps her singing.

“It’s the friendships,” she says. “I miss my mom, who lives on the Big Island now, but I’ve had so much fun here. Macomb is the first school where I have ever really thrived.”

The last presidential election, which Emanuel Dushaj likened to a “civil war” of words, has convinced him that he is on the right track, which he hopes will lead to George Washington University and a law degree.  But not for the reason one might think.

“I can’t be a politician, I take things to heart,” says Dushaj, a Macomb history and political science major. “I do want to go to law school. Not to work for a corporation, but to serve the human condition.  A job with the United Nations is my ultimate dream.”

A law degree, believe Dushaj, will “open doors” for him that other fields cannot.  And through those doors he wants to take on such issues as the environment, terrorism and human trafficking. Participating in a recent conversation on the last election via interactive video with students from the University of California, Berkeley, coordinated by his political science professor, Dushaj came dressed in a suit because, he says, “your appearance says a lot.”  And so, too, the manner in which you present your opinions to others.

“No one takes time for persuasion anymore,” reflects Dushaj.  “People are too quick to label others who don’t agree with them.  You will never persuade anyone if you label them.”

Enrolling at Macomb after graduating from L’Anse Creuse North High School, Dushaj intends to transfer to Wayne State before moving to Washington, D.C., to pursue his law degree. “Coming to Macomb was one of the best things I could have done in my life,” says the 18-year-old, who balances full-time studies with a customer service job at AT&T. “I really appreciate the opportunities that I have been given here.”

“I love music,” says Katie Braschayko, a Macomb sophomore and sax player with an affinity for the New Orleans’ stylings of the late, great Sidney Bechet.  “My dad’s a classical jazz kind of guy, so I grew up listening to it. I played clarinet in high school before switching to sax. I like being in the bass line and I like to be heard!”

Katie is a member of Macomb’s Jazz Band and is also taking classes in piano. While uncertain about a major, maybe sports management, she is on the path toward a minor in music. A member of jazz band in high school, Katie wanted to attend a college that offered the same opportunity. In addition to jazz band, Macomb also sponsors a concert choir, concert band, symphony orchestra and the Macombers, a singing and dancing troupe for which auditions are held each spring. And does Katie mind those 7 p.m. practices after a day of classes and working at a local restaurant? “You get to end your day playing jazz,” she says. “It doesn’t get much better than that!”