Heather Serfoss said when she first considered going back to school, she wasn’t sure about the idea. She pictured the ever-taxing moments of motivating yourself to continue to pursue an education while pushing through the challenges college has to offer.

However, Serfoss, now almost 40, has given herself a new start with a new career after coming back to school. That career will be her third. But she is determined to carve out her own life here at Madison College through the Auto Collision program. As she puts it, she does not want to fit into the “cookie cutter” image that is sometimes projected on individuals once they become adults.

“If I can do it, anyone can do it,” Serfoss said. “We’ve just got to find that niche that drives us and makes us happy and run with it.”

She said starting college after years away seemed exhausting at first, yet she has found her niche and is pleased to be pursing a career that will make her happy.

Prior to entering the Auto Collision program, Serfoss had worked in two different fields. She completed an apprenticeship with Ultimate Arts and became an award-winning tattoo artist. Eventually, she decided to go a different route. She chose to become a CNA because many people told her jobs in the medical field are the ones that would never go away. But after working as a CNA for Mendota Hospital, she realized that the medical field wasn’t for her.

Serfoss then made a trip out to Georgia to visit her father’s side of the family, and discovered her grandfather was a master mechanic for the Marine Special Forces. This prompted her to go into the trade skills for which she and her grandfather share a passion.

Serfoss did her research and decided to go into the Auto Collision program at Madison College. A big factor in her decision was the high level of employment among graduates from the program.

Serfoss said she had some fears going back to college.

“Before I went back to school I thought it was going to be like going back to high school, it was going to be a trudge, and that for sure it was going to suck,” Serfoss said.

However, being a Madison College student, she said, is actually much more involving than what she thought.

“The staff at Madison College is incredible at helping you reach your goals, I myself feel the ambition, the enthusiasm, the excitement, it’s not at all what I thought I was going to see, it’s much more involving,” Serfoss said.

Her involvement with school has helped her to do well and successfully finish school, she said.

Serfoss said she hopes to get into painting and eventually get onto a major motorcycling circuit and have opportunities for exposure. Serfoss said she wants to bring back the particular trade that she has such a passion for and will continue to reach for the possibilities.

“I’m just driven to accomplish bigger, better things – both personally and professionally. Sure, the money is a factor as well, but life has an endless amount of options, and then an endless amount of success to be had in each option and variation thereof,” Serfoss said. “I feel like I’d be a fool to settle for the mundane. Life has way too much to offer to sit idle and watch it pass by. If your first career doesn’t work, try another.”

Serfoss said she is thankful for her opportunity for another chance to find her niche at the college and be able to move on from there.

“I bet on myself instead of listening to what everyone has said to me,” Serfoss said. “Bigger (and) better things are waiting for me. … That’s what drives me.”