A transformative experience

Olivia Hentzien will be the first one to tell you she is not the same person she was when she first stepped foot onto Lincoln Land Community College in fall 2023. 

“I came in as an apprehensive student. I just wanted to get my associate degree in psychology and get into a safe career,” she says. “I felt like I was good at that.”

As a first-generation college student, Olivia had to navigate her own college path, but she soon found mentors in her professors and staff at the LLCC Center for Academic Success.

“They expected a lot from me, and that’s good because those relationships hold you accountable,” she explains.

She applied for a job as a peer tutor, hoping to help students in psychology or logic. But fate had other plans.

The Center for Academic Success told her there wasn’t a demand for logic tutors, but since she had great math grades in high school, including calculus, there was a huge demand for math tutors.

“I love math. I’ve always loved math, but it wasn’t something that came naturally to me. It was a challenge, and that made it fun.”

She began tutoring students in math. 

“I was building up my own confidence as they had so much faith in me and were so willing to work with me,” she says. “The students and I both walked away from the experience with more confidence.”

Soon, the math professors, who work in tutoring, noticed her skills and began to ask why she wasn’t majoring in mathematics.

She started to wonder herself.

“I started to wonder if I was letting fear control me,” she says. 

She decided to continue her path of psychology for her associate degree, but to major in mathematics when she transfers this fall. Then she will go on for graduate degree and eventually a Ph.D. to teach at a college or university. 

“I feel like my true calling is teaching,” she smiles. 

And she’s grateful the path toward her future came through LLCC.

“I had the grades to go to a university, but it was not financially feasible,” she says. “And I’m so glad I came to LLCC. It gave me more time to figure myself out. I’m much more confidant than when I started.”