Monica Garcia is one of Doyon Foundation’s many success stories. Garcia graduated from the University of Alaska Anchorage with a bachelor’s of science degree in nursing in 2008, 
and is now working as a labor and delivery nurse at the Alaska Native Medical Center. She would also like to become a commissioned officer in the U.S. Public Health Service and work in the Indian Health Service facilities where she can continue providing care to the Alaska Native community.
But getting to where she’s at wasn’t always easy for Garcia, who is originally from Northway, Alaska. In addition to challenges such as the stress of her clinicals, her husband leaving for the Alaska State Trooper training academy, having a baby just four weeks before graduation, and taking care of a newborn while finishing her preceptorship, Garcia also lost a close friend during her last year of nursing school.
“I surrounded myself with friends and family that pushed me to finish my last two months, and held on to the thought that on the day I got my nursing pin, that she was watching down, knowing that I could have done it all along,” Garcia said about how she overcame that difficult time.
“Surround yourself with people that are going to support you and what you are trying to do,” she advises other students. “No matter what challenges you face throughout your educational career, never lose sight of your goals. That sense of accomplishment you feel when you are finished is priceless, and knowing that you have put a smile on all those that have invested their time encouraging and supporting you, and that you didn’t let them down.”
Among the support she received, Garcia said that Doyon Foundation helped her financially throughout her educational endeavors.
“They also gave me a connection to other students that were trying to finish school. That provided me with well-needed motivation to finish. Knowing that other students were graduating provided that extra push I needed to keep going when faced with many of life’s challenges,” she said.
Garcia is the daughter of the late Alfred Felix and Lee and Lorraine Titus of Northway, and the granddaughter of Frank Felix and Ellen Demit of Healy Lake and Kenneth and Enna Albert of Northway.