After overcoming addiction and experiencing tremendous loss, Zoe Hollenbeck reached her lifelong dream of becoming a nurse thanks to College of the Canyons.

When Zoe Hollenbeck told her first-grade teacher she wanted to be a labor and delivery nurse, she didn’t know exactly what that meant. But something about it stuck.

“I just had this calling, said Hollenbeck. “I had a feeling I was supposed to be that.”

That feeling stayed with her, even when her life veered off course. At 15, Hollenbeck became addicted to heroin and dropped out of high school.

“I didn’t want to be anything,” said Hollenbeck. “I didn’t think I could be anything.”

After going to rehab and becoming a mother at the age of 19, Hollenbeck realized it was time to turn her life around. She enrolled at College of the Canyons in early 2020 when she was seven months pregnant with her second child.

“I just felt like it was now or never to just get the ball rolling,” said Hollenbeck, who earned her nursing degree from COC in December 2024.

Going back to school at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic with two small children was no easy feat, said the single mom.

“Everything was online,” said Hollenbeck. “It was hard to learn and navigate that with a newborn. I had lot of support from my family. My parents were a huge help.”

Sadly, a few months after starting classes, her father died unexpectedly.

Hollenbeck says the support she received from the college’s nursing faculty, such as Theresa Winter, helped her stay the course.

“She was always so supportive,” said Hollenbeck of Winter. “I was open with her about my struggles, and I could always come to her if I was struggling in school. She would give me extra support, extra resources. She really helped motivate me and support me to get through.”

Winter recalls the quiet determination Hollenbeck brought to class.

“There are very few who handle that first semester of nursing school with the calm and strength Zoe did,” said Winter. “She was a standout.”

Hollenbeck’s class cohort recognized her leadership strength and nominated her to be the class representative, acting as a liaison between students and faculty for the entire two-year program. She also became known for her study guides—which were so thorough that Winter asked her to share them with students who were struggling.

“I knew Zoe was raising a child, was juggling nursing school, and was employed,” said Winter. “I was very impressed at how if any of her demands competed with one another, it never showed.”

Hollenbeck also found support through COC’s CalWORKs program, which provided her with financial assistance and even gifts for her kids during the holidays.

“I could get presents for my kids, and they would give me gift cards to help with gas and give me extra resources to be able to pay for books and things like that,” said Hollenbeck. “That was a huge help.”

Despite the nursing program’s demands, Hollenbeck rarely talked about her past. Winter says she was unaware of her story until she heard her speak at the college’s nurse pinning ceremony about her past addiction struggles.

“I was stunned,” said Winter. “I have never cried over a speech, and I was sobbing. There was never a moment I could have imagined where this student with an enormous sense of self, a student I respected with all of my heart, who exuded strength in all she did, had gone through so much. It made me love her more than I already did, for overcoming what would have been insurmountable odds for almost all others and to channel that hard-earned strength into the all-giving profession of nursing.”

Hollenbeck is celebrating seven years of sobriety, a new job at Providence Holy Cross Medical Center and a bright future.

In August, the first-generation college graduate will start working toward a Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree from California State University, Northridge.

Her end goal is to pursue a master’s degree so that she can teach.

“I just feel like I am naturally good at teaching, and I have such a passion for nursing that it would just be great to be able to share that with others,” said Hollenbeck. “Nursing school especially, can just be so stressful and really scary. I had such incredible instructors, and so I would love to be able to give back and do that for another student who’s coming in.”

When it comes to advice she would give to other students, Hollenbeck stressed the importance of keeping your eyes on the prize.

“Keep your focus on the end goal and just know that if you keep going one step at a time, one day at a time, eventually you’ll get to your goal, as long as you keep going forward,” said Hollenbeck.