Two years ago, Brittany Conduff sat in her car outside Clinton Community College (CCC), nervous and second-guessing her decision to return to school after more than a decade away from the classroom.
âI remember texting my sister-in-law like, âI think I'm going to throw up.â She was like, âOh, you're fine. You got this,ââ the 2025 EICC graduate said. âI was genuinely concerned I was going to school with a bunch of 18-, 19-year-olds. I thought I wouldnât have anything in common with anyone.â
Conduff and her husband were raising five children, including twins. She also worked in a memory care facility as a lead resident assistant, handling scheduling and caring for residents. That job planted a seed, and fear about the future pushed her to act.
âI thought, realistically, what happens if something happens to my husband? Heâs the primary caregiver when it comes to finances,â Conduff said. âI realized I didnât have a marketable trait. I needed to support my kids if something happened to him.â
She began looking into nursing programs and learned about EICC from the director of nursing at the memory care facility, who was pursuing her RN. The recommendation, paired with CCCâs affordability and proximity, made it a compelling choice.
âWhen I met with the advisor, she was so happy and bubblyâthat was the deciding factor for me,â Conduff said.
Even then, she wasnât sure she would belong. But it didnât take long to realize she wasnât alone.
âIâve made quite a few friends going here and you arenât just a number,â Conduff said. âThe biggest class Iâve had maybe had 15 people. The professor knows your name when you walk into the classroom.â
That early sense of community helped shift her perspective and her confidence.
âThe first couple weeks of the first semester, I didnât really ask questions in class. I didnât raise my hand. Now Iâm usually one of the first ones to raise my hand,â Conduff said.
The transformation has been steady and substantial. Over the last two years, she was inducted into Phi Theta Kappa, consistently earned spots on the Deanâs and Presidentâs lists, and was nominated as a classroom leader.
And Conduff was selected to speak at CCCâs 2025 Commencement Ceremonyâa role she never imagined for herself.
âTwo years ago, I wasnât a public speaker. I was nervous, quiet, withdrawn. I didnât feel like I fit in,â she said. âNow Iâve proven to myself that I can do hard things.â
Durning her speech, Conduff shared more than her academic journey. She spoke candidly about the hardships sheâs facedâlosing a child and significant other, and navigating trauma from her childhood. Her message was clear: donât be a victim of your own story.
At CCC, she discovered she is smart and sheâs resilient. And, sheâs not stopping. Conduff graduated in May 2025 with an Associate in Science degree and will begin EICCâs nursing program this fall. Her long-term goal is to become a psychiatric nurse practitioner.
She hopes her experience will inspire other adults who feel uncertain about going back to school. âThereâs no harm in at least trying. If you donât, youâll always wonder what would have happened if you had,â Conduff said.
Graduation was a chance for her to reflect on how much she had changedâfrom self-doubt to self-assurance, from sitting silently in class to standing on stage. And she didnât spend the day texting nervously from her car. She stood tall, reminding othersâand herselfâjust how far she had come.