Alumna Profile: Two-time Cooke Scholarship Winner Reflects on Journey

For Seminole State College of Florida alumna and two-time scholarship award-winner Melissa Cunningham, the last decade has been nothing short of remarkable and driven.

While living in Central Florida with her sister, Melissa enrolled in the associate degree program at Seminole State College for general studies during the summer of 2012. She was looking for a change of pace and in need of support and direction following hardships. With a long-term professional healthcare vision in mind, Melissa advanced her studies at the Grindle Honors Institute, where she first learned of the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation College Scholarship Program.

She joined the Non-traditional Student Club with a young child at home. Non-traditional students are a vibrant part of Seminole State, bringing important life experiences that enhance the College experience, inside and outside the classroom. They often model a strong commitment to their education, an ability to juggle myriad responsibilities, and wisdom that comes from additional life experience. She also showcased her talents through leadership roles with Phi Theta Kappa and the STEM Club while on campus.

She was one of four students from Seminole State who earned a Cooke Undergraduate Transfer Scholarship in 2015. At that time, the College was only the second in the nation to have had four Jack Kent Cooke scholars in one year. Melissa graduated Summa Cum Laude in Spring 2015 with an Associate in Arts (A.A.) degree in General Education and an honors diploma. 

Cunningham used her transfer scholarship to attend the University of Southern Maine (USM), where she graduated in May 2018 from the honors program with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing with a biology minor. In 2022, she achieved her Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) and Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner degree. During her studies at USM, she was awarded the Cooke Graduate Scholarship to help her complete her graduate studies.

Today, Melissa is a medical psychiatric provider at Pine Tree Recovery Center, an inpatient substance use treatment center in her hometown of Portland, Maine. As the primary psychiatric provider for the 28-day residential recovery program, she oversees the psychiatric and mental healthcare during post-acute substance withdrawal, including initial psychiatric evaluation and weekly follow-up, medication management, and supportive psychotherapy. Pine Tree is a nationally accredited substance use detoxification and treatment center and one of the country's most highly respected programs. The Pine Tree experience was created by top addiction treatment professionals using extensive feedback from clients to create a truly unique and highly effective program.

While Melissa continues to excel through her work in the drug and alcohol detoxification and inpatient program, she envisions new goals in her future. She gravitates to smaller niches in healthcare to fulfill the community's unmet needs. She seeks to create a better partnership, or bridge, for clients as they transition out of the 30-day inpatient program to ongoing outpatient services.

Furthermore, she aims to leverage her personal and professional experience and expand her reach in the nonprofit space to abolish food insecurities and create unity and diversity awareness. 

When asked about her best advice to the next generation of Seminole State students, Melissa shared this takeaway message: “Create a goal and commitment in your mind and persevere with positive self-talk. Mindset is key.”