QCC’s Education Delivers Endless Possibilities to PTK Student

There are times in a person’s life when things just don’t seem to go your way and then, almost overnight things change.

QCC sophomore Abel Delgado is a nontraditional student, who started out in higher education attending a four-year California university right out of high school, yet due to financial hardships had to drop out after a year and a half. Years went by until one day, after moving to the East coast, he found QCC.  

“Thanks to the QCC financial aid department, after attending open houses, new student orientations, and meeting one-on-one with an advisor, I was able to fully understand how I could continue my education with the help of financial aid,” Mr. Delgado said. “Without that assistance I would not be where I am today, ready to graduate and continue on to my bachelor’s degree.”

Mr. Delgado is a member of the College’s Phi Theta Kappa (PTK) Honor Society and is set to graduate in May with an Associate Degree in Business Administration and transfer to Nichols College to pursue his bachelor's degree this fall. While attending QCC, he has also been working full-time for UMass Memorial Hospital as a Supervisor for Patient Access Services.

“I supervised a team of 30 people that handled scheduling appointments for various clinics within the UMass system,” he said. “With this pandemic, it has been extremely busy attending to the community who want answers for their symptoms, get tested for COVID, and see their providers for a hospital visit.”

Within the last few weeks, Mr. Delgado has transitioned into a new role as a Credentialed Trainer for the hospital. The position requires him to educate all ambulatory staff on all the programs required for their daily tasks. He works directly with doctors, nurse practitioners, medical assistants and CNA's, showing them various ways that the hospital’s programs can assist them in helping patients.

“This was possible due to finally completing my requirements for my associate's degree and graduating this upcoming May,” he added.

Staying Connected with PTK

You would think that schoolwork and a new full-time job in the healthcare industry would be more than enough for one person; however, as an active PTK member, Mr. Delgado has been working to engage his fellow PTK members during the pandemic. He has hosted a family-feud style game night that went so well they decided to do others, recently holding a Jeopardy night.

Mr. Delgado is using the website ‘Triviamaker’ to create these games and acts as the host through zoom, where he is able to display questions and answers.

“Everyone is having so much fun. We are all getting together to decide what topics we would like to have as categories. We have some ideas already of maybe having "The Office Jeopardy" or another TV show everyone is familiar with. We are also now planning a "Wheel of Fortune" night,” he said. “I was looking forward to this because I know with this pandemic, times are difficult. It could be that someone lost their job, doesn’t have family nearby, or just misses having connections. I wanted to provide an outlet where we could join together and feel a sense of normalcy, even if it's just a small game.”

To make suggestions or learn more, email PTK Advisor Bonnie Coleman, bcoleman [at] qcc.mass.edu