This year’s health professions commencement speaker Deborah Zelleke-Yearwood overcame serious hurdles on the path to earning her associate degree at the age of 43.
Zelleke-Yearwood already had a full life – her husband of 15 years, her three children and volunteer and some paid work in youth and young adult ministry. It was while watching her youngest son, Joshua, born prematurely, in the neonatal intensive care unit that she thought about continuing her education.
“It was the incredible care that he received – from the nurses especially – that impacted me so deeply,” said Zelleke-Yearwood. “I love serving people, but I never even thought about doing something in the healthcare field and just witnessing that, it touched me, moved me so much.”
Joshua had to have multiple surgeries, and then Zelleke-Yearwood had to have one of her own following a cancer diagnosis. The surgery was successful.
“I decided to enroll in school because I had this newfound passion,” she said.
Joshua was still in the NICU when she enrolled at Northern Virginia Community College to begin taking prerequisite courses as she prepared to apply to nursing school.
“I had never heard about surgical technology until I observed a c-section,” said Zelleke-Yearwood, who lives in Woodbridge, and had been working at Reston Hospital at the time. “I kind of fell in love with the surgical aspect of the case.”
She had also never heard of Laurel Ridge until she started researching surgical technology programs. Fortunately, the program had similar prerequisites as nursing school.
“My experience at Laurel Ridge has been phenomenal,” said Zelleke-Yearwood, who was born in Sweden and grew up in Dallas. “It’s a fantastic program with great instructors and facilities.”
Thanks to a Pell grant, two scholarships, and funding from the G3 program, she had no out-of-pocket expenses. She received the Saul Robinson Scholarship and the Patrick Allen Duff Memorial Endowed Scholarship from the Laurel Ridge Educational Foundation.
Zelleke-Yearwood’s favorite instructor is Ashley Seabolt.
“She was patient with us, easy to connect to, understood my being older and having kids and that things come up sometimes, giving us extra grace if we needed extra time with assignments,” she said. “I think my favorite part of the program was clinicals, being hands on in the OR and getting that real-life experience.”
Currently applying for surgical technology jobs, Zelleke-Yearwood thinks she would eventually like to work as a surgical first assistant.
“I would like to be in women’s health, maybe in labor and delivery or gynecological procedures, and then maybe get a few years of really good experience, really sharpen my skills and then I would love to go to school to become a first assistant,” she said.
Joshua, now aged 4 and healthy, Zelleke-Yearwood’s other two children, Moses, 12, and Avi, 9, and her husband are all proud of her. Zelleke-Yearwood said her father, Dr. Zelleke Alemu, was a tremendous help and inspiration during her educational journey.
“He played a big role in helping babysit my kids so I could attend classes and I could study,” she said. “He was my biggest encouragement. He won’t be here to see me do this.”
Dr. Alemu, who emigrated from Ethiopia to Sweden, died last year.
“My dad, being an immigrant born in a mud hut, plowing oxen, who could barely go to school because it was so far, came to America and ended up getting his Ph.D.,” said Zelleke-Yearwood.
After earning his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Sweden, Dr. Alemu, a minister, was sponsored by an American denomination to come to the U.S., where he earned his doctoral degree.
“It’s never too late to pursue a degree,” said Zelleke-Yearwood. “I really want to dedicate my degree to him.”
“My faith plays the biggest role in my life, just my faith in God,” she added. “It has been a tough few years, but I really see how He carried me through. When I look back on it, it doesn’t feel like a lot, it feels like I was just carried through it.”
Laurel Ridge Community College was known as Lord Fairfax Community College until June 2022. For consistency purposes, the college will be referenced as Laurel Ridge going forward.