From Student to Mentor: A Nursing Instructor’s Full-Circle Journey

For one Butte College nursing instructor, the path to teaching wasn’t just a career move, it was the fulfillment of a lifelong calling.

Michelle August joined Butte College part-time in 2022. Within a short time, she moved into a full-time role, and by 2026 she earned tenure. Before entering the classroom, she spent years working in the medical field at Enloe Medical Center. From a young age, nursing was a path that August knew she wanted to take.

“Growing up, that's all I ever wanted to do,” she said

That sense of calling stayed with her, even as life presented unexpected challenges. As a teenager, she navigated moving to a new town, starting over in a new high school, and becoming a mother at seventeen. Those challenges could have changed her path entirely. Instead, it strengthened her determination.

She excelled academically, graduating with straight A’s before enrolling at Butte College to complete her prerequisites. She later transferred to Chico State, where she earned her nursing degree. Her transition into teaching came through encouragement from a mentor and a desire to give back. Today, her approach emphasizes both clinical skill and compassion.

“I try to be there for them in their time of need and not put extra stress on them on top of what they already are facing,” she said.

When students feel overwhelmed, she encourages them to reconnect with their purpose.

“I call it my little bucket of things that I need to continue on. If you can go back to why you're doing what you're doing, you can always pull from that bucket,” she said.

Outside the classroom, August is learning to slow down and set boundaries in a demanding profession. She recharges by spending time with family and friends, including one connection that came full circle. A friend she met at Butte College is now family.

“My daughter and her son got married in 2019,” she said. “So, now we're really family.”

August has remained close with members of her college cohort and encourages students to build and maintain those relationships with peers and mentors.

Today, she continues to shape the next generation of nurses through the Butte College nursing program—guided by the same passion that began in childhood and strengthened through every challenge along the way.