How This CNM Grad Turned a Difficult Situation Into a Success Story

When the COVID-19 pandemic closed the world down Angel Morningstar was immediately affected. Angel, who uses he/him pronouns, was a server at Olive Garden but lost his job and had to figure out what came next.

Luckily, CNM offered a way forward.

“I had no idea what college would be like, but I decided to give it a shot,” he says.

Turns out, Angel loved college. He dove head first into history classes and was captivated by the Age of Enlightenment, a period that was full of great writers, thinkers, and scientists. 

College life was different from work life, but Angel quickly found that there was an entire support community at CNM, even if everything was online.

“CNM had a unique way of providing me with the stepping stones I needed to succeed,” he says. “And all my instructors never gave up on me and always worked with me. They gave me the structure and momentum I needed to keep going.”

And kept going he has. Angel just graduated with four associated degrees (History, Communication, Liberal Arts, and English) and was accepted into Penn State where he’s attending online classes.

At Penn State he’s double majoring in History and Mass Communications. His first semester was challenging but he finished with straight As. 

“All my classes were difficult, but I did well and I’m on pace to graduate in 2024,” Angel says.

After graduation, the plan is to keep studying and to eventually put his skills to use. He wants to either become a history professor at the college level, or create historical content for a media company like PBS or the History Channel. 

Whatever happens, he’s thankful he found CNM.

“Whenever everything shut down, CNM became my only route of opportunity and I’m so glad I enrolled,” he says. “The college set me up for success and I’m very excited about my future.”