Promise recipient accepted into new EEG Program at WSCC

Carli Kandalec

Promise recipient accepted into new EEG Program at WSCC

Since 2018, the Mason County Promise Zone has offered tuition and fees scholarships at West Shore Community College (WSCC) to all Mason County residents who graduate with a 2.0 or better and live in Mason County.  Carli Kandalec, a 2018 Ludington High School graduate, used her scholarship to achieve an associate degree in fall 2020, and will now use the Promise Scholarship to pursue the new electroencephalogram (EEG) program at WSCC. 

“I realized I could save more money going to WSCC instead of moving away, because universities cost so much,” said Kandalec, adding that initially, she wanted to pursue EEG, but neither WSCC or Ferris State University offered those programs at the time. 

The first cohort of the EEG program, which trains students on using high-tech equipment that examines brainwaves, consists of two students, and Kandalec applied with hopes that she would be one of the two. Having achieved a degree already, she was qualified, but Kandalec also used her time at WSCC to do more than just study: She gave back to her community.  

A professor suggested that Kandalec become the president of a student organization that she hadn’t even heard of, called PTK.  And she took the chance, sharing that “I’ve been able to meet more people, gain communication skills, and plan events like trivia nights, a book club, and a food drive.”  

The food drive had to be done with social distancing and virtual meetings due the pandemic.  “We all came together and collected food from the community and were able to provide six big boxes of food to each of the Mason County high schools,” Kandalec said. “It was amazing and heartwarming to see that something small that we did, helped us give back to the school that we went to.  All of the food went into gift bags that helped families out during winter break, and the food was especially helpful because of COVID and the limitations of access to food.”  

“The Promise has worked out,” according to Kandalec, in ways she never imagined.  It has allowed her to pursue a program that she always wanted but initially couldn’t find, to live in her home community and give back to it, and to save money, and work less so that she could graduate and pursue not just one degree, but an additional certificate.   

Consider the Promise Scholarship and WSCC as a great start to any future career path.  To learn more about Kandalec or the Promise Scholarship, visit MasonCountyPromise.org.