Eve Nichols: Cabrillo Saved My Life, By Jondi Gumz • Cabrillo Grad

COMMUNITY NEWS Eve Nichols: Cabrillo Saved My Life

By Jondi Gumz

If not for her therapist, Eve Nichols might not be here, a proud 2021 graduate of Cabrillo College with a future ahead of her.

Despite dealing with suicidal ideation, despite the COVID-19 pandemic turning her world upside down and forcing her classes and activities online, she survived — and is thriving.

How?

“The support system I was able to build at Cabrillo,” said Nichols, 21, who lives in Watsonville with her mom and two brothers.

Nichols, who earned a diploma at Sequoia continuation high school, discovered she wasn’t prepared academically for Cabrillo College.

Her first year, she took courses in English and math that didn’t give her credits transferable to a four-year university.

She had to start at the lowest level of math.

She persisted.

“My mom’s really supportive,” she said. “She’s the reason I went to the college.”

She connected with Avelar, a family therapist in Aptos, after being reported to the dean at Cabrillo.

“I have cold-induced asthma,” Nichols said. “I was kicked out of class for coughing.”

No doubt embarrassing at the time, the incident led the campus nurse-practitioner and then Avelar contacting her.

“We’ve built a great relationship,” Nichols said of Avelar, whom she has known for three years.

Still, thoughts of suicide were never far away.

With “a lot going on at my home,” Nichols overdosed.

She swallowed a bottleful of Xanax pills, a drug classified as a benzodiazepine, prescribed for anxiety, but it can cause depression and thoughts of suicide.

Avelar called her in the middle of this episode and called 911 for an ambulance.

That was a turning point.

“So many great people at Cabrillo are there for me,” Nichols said.

“I don’t struggle mentally like I did before. I feel very blessed.”

Suicide Trends

Overdose deaths accelerated nationwide in 2020 in wake of the COVID-19 outbreak changing life as we know it beginning in March with lockdowns, stay-at-home orders, toilet paper shortages, music venues, wineries and bars, gyms and yoga studios closed, capacity limits for stores, and requirements for restaurants to halt indoor service and offer takeout only.

Santa Cruz County bucked the trend of increasing suicides, with 32 in 2020 compared to 49 in 2019, according to county coroner Stephany Fiore.

Eve Nichols might have among them if not for Dianne Avelar and the support she got at Cabrillo from Letitia Scott-Curtis, who teaches English, Denise Colosi, who teaches math, Lisa Kirk-Williams, her mentor at the math learning center, and student activities coordinator Alta Northcutt, her advisor.

After starting at the bottom in math, Nichols advanced to calculus.

She took advantage of tutoring at the math learning center, and got a job there herself helping other students.

For her, the key was understanding that math is a different language.

“You can’t give up, you have to keep going,” she said.

“Alta Northcutt changed my life too,” she added. “I always admired her spirit. She lights up a room. Her laugh is contagious.”

Nichols connected with her after she was elected to the Cabrillo Student Senate and then chaired the Intern Club Council, which is under the Student Senate.

Representatives of all 13 active student clubs get together every two weeks, share updates and report on their activities and events.

“It’s a place to build community,” Nichols said. “It’s nice to see how many people were motivated to put in the extra work.”

Of course, those get-togethers moved to Zoom online after the pandemic arrived.

She didn’t let the loss of face-to-face interactions get in the way.

“Eve Nichols” page 17

Eve Nichols celebrates her graduation from Cabrillo College.

Cabrillo Graduates 1,240: 50% Latinx For First Time

On May 21, Cabrillo College honored 1,240 graduates in a virtual ceremony, and for the first time at the federally-designated Hispanic-serving institution, 50 percent of the graduating class is Latinx.

The college also recognized 115 nongraduates intending to transfer to four-year universities. Another 358 graduates intend to transfer to earn a four-year degree, for a total of 473 transfer students.

A notable 76 students will graduate or transfer as part of the Honors Transfer Program, having completed all the requirements, including at least 15 units of honors coursework, while maintaining a 3.5 or higher grade point average. Of those, a record 46 graduated as honors scholars, completing at least 15 units of honors courses with a minimum 3.4 transferable grade point average.

This year, 32 students were certified for UCLA’s Transfer Alliance Program into the College of Letters & Sciences — and 75 percent were admitted to their first choice majors at UCLA for fall. Ten students were certified for UC Irvine, completing at least 15 units of honors courses with a minimum 3.7 grade point average to get a guaranteed offer of admission.