“Tenacious” and “compassionate” are understatements for Sue Torrey, a former Cuesta College nursing student and community activist who has been named Cuesta’s 2003 Honored Alumnus of the Year.
Torrey is a former Director of Quality Management for Sierra Vista Regional Medical Center. She started at Cuesta in 1970, and returned in 1977 to earn her Associate Nursing Degree in 1981. Torrey started working at Twin Cities Community Hospital the day after graduation, where she was named “Employee of the Year” in 1987, and promoted to Director of Nursing in 1989 and Assistant Administrator of Patient Care Services in 1993.
What exactly did Torrey accomplish with her education at Cuesta? Let’s put it this way – she was a recently-divorced single mother with five children, with a sixth on the way, when she returned to Cuesta. “I was unsure and not a little frightened,” Torrey admits. The sixth child was born three weeks before the end of the semester, allowing Chemistry Instructor Joe Brundage to show off a few domestic skills.
“Joe rocked her as I tried to complete my Chemistry Labs, and allowed me to take my final in his office – writing answers as I held and nursed my baby,” she said. “I started the following semester with a four-month old and sometimes had no sitter. I taped Bill Fairbanks’ sociology classes and retrieved the tape after class. I can’t image a place more accommodating to the difficulties I had – but I was determined – and that determination was recognized and validated by the staff. That beginning opened up options for me which changed my life.”
Along with Brundage and Fairbanks, Torrey cites Cuesta College Nursing Director Mary Parker and former biology instructor Harald Platou as incredible influences during her Cuesta experience. “As the head of the Nursing Program, Mary communicated so well what it meant to be a strong, articulate woman, a nurse and an advocate for patients,” she said. “Harald created a learning atmosphere in bio-chemistry that encouraged me to go on and apply for nursing school.”
Torrey has been actively involved with fundraising for
Cuesta College, soliciting a $15,000 donation from Tenet Healthcare for the
North County Campus. The Cuesta experience has continued in other ways for
Torrey. Two nieces, four children
(one currently) have all attended Cuesta, with her youngest child expected to
attend next fall. Her sister Toni, a Cuesta nursing graduate, is a
full-time nursing instructor at the college.
“At Cuesta, I received the training necessary to enter nursing – but so much more,” said Torrey. “It opened up a world of possibility with awareness, self-confidence and assertiveness. I gained the tools to succeed.”