Student returns to MC for bachelor's degreeSeptember 19, 2024

As a child, Rosie Luna traveled extensively throughout the United States—not for pleasure, but because her parents were migrant farm workers.  Summers were spent traveling by car to North Carolina and Indiana with her parents and four siblings in order to harvest fruit and vegetables.  She was born in Eagle Pass, TX, but her family soon moved to Dade City, FL to take advantage of the opportunities that the Florida climate provided for migrant farmers.  

“In migrant farm families, the entire family works, including the children when school isn’t in session,” Luna explained.  “Of course, it’s hard work, but at the time, I didn’t know any other life.  Even though we were poor and my parents worked long hours, I had a happy childhood.  In fact, that life gave me a strong work ethic that was modeled after watching my parents work in the fields.”

In 1993, during her senior year in high school, the family moved to Midland to take advantage of oilfield job opportunities, and in May 1994, she graduated from Midland High School.  The following fall, she started taking classes at Midland College and eventually graduated with an Associate of Applied Science Degree in Nursing.

“I always enjoyed healthcare, and I knew that getting an education was a means to a better life,” she said.  “As a nursing student, I realized that my talents and skills were more aligned with the administrative and management side of healthcare.  In fact, I’ve never really worked as a nurse, but the knowledge I learned in nursing school has helped me immensely in my administrative career.”  

After graduating from Midland College, Luna worked for a few years as a case manager at a rehabilitation facility, and then for the past 18 years, she has served as executive director of West Texas Physicians Alliance, a professional association that handles credentialing and contracting for over 130 physicians.  As such, she performs the credentialing/recredentialing process on behalf of alliance members and secures and oversees contracts with managed care entities.

“I wanted to continue my education, but ‘life happened,’” she said.  “After marriage, the birth of two daughters and then eventually divorce, it was difficult to find the time and financial resources to go back to school to work on a bachelor’s degree.”

In the fall of 2021, Luna noticed an article in the Midland Reporter-Telegram about Midland College’s two bachelor degree programs in Organizational Management and Health Services Management.  

“It was always in the back of my mind that I would go back to school, and then when I came across that article and read about the degrees, I thought that’s exactly what I need,” Luna said.  “I had no idea that Midland College offered bachelor degrees.  My daughters were older and didn’t need me as much, and I was ready for a new challenge.  I also had tremendous encouragement from the man who I would eventually marry, Brian Steffenilla.  It’s important for students to have a support system, and Brian was ‘cheering me on’ every step of the way.”  

So, in January 2022, Luna began taking classes in Midland College’s online Health Services Management bachelor degree program.

“It was a little daunting at first,” she said.  “I hadn’t been to school in over 20 years.  There was also the matter of making sure that I could afford it; however, Midland College staff quickly told me about scholarship opportunities.  Thanks to donor-directed scholarships that Midland College offers, cost was not a factor.  The scholarship assistance made going back to school affordable.  I tell everyone who is thinking about going to college to not let finances deter you.  Midland College has lots of ways to help.

“I’ve been working in healthcare administration for a long time, so I wasn’t sure there was much I could learn that I didn’t already know.  However, I was very impressed with how up-to-date the Health Services Management program is with current trends.  Everything was very timely, and I was able to incorporate some of the class material into my job.  Since I had never worked in a hospital, I also appreciated learning things that pertain to hospital administration.”   

Luna said that being able to take all courses online appealed to her because of her job and family responsibilities; however, there was one class that she found struggling.

“Algebra was tough for me, especially online,” she said.  “In fact, after about two weeks of the class, I started to doubt myself and wondered if I had any business going back to school at this stage in my life.  Fortunately, I contacted the instructor Anansa Green, and she was so understanding.  She said that she also taught the class in a traditional face-to-face session and invited me to take the class that way instead.  So, I did, but I still struggled.  It had been a really long time since I took an algebra class!  Ms. Green was still very sympathetic, and she worked with me to drop the class and enroll in a statistics course the next semester, again in a traditional face-to-face method.  Statistics made much more sense to me, and another great professor Joseph Severino taught the course.  

“All of my professors at Midland College were terrific.  They just don’t pay lip service to student success—they really help students reach their goals.  MC has a special place in my heart!”

Luna was inspired by her professors, and they, in turn, took notice of Luna’s commitment.  Dr. Leonora Lambert, Midland College department chair of Health Information, was particularly impressed with Luna’s final project which was developing a commercial for teaching elderly patients and their family members about self-advocacy and various insurance-related issues.   

This past May, Luna graduated from Midland College with a Bachelor of Applied Science degree in Health Services Management, and on June 6, she and Brian were married.  In the future, she plans to pursue a Master’s degree in Healthcare Administration.