BetterMynd a New Approach to Mental Health

Southwestern Michigan College this fall partnered with a teletherapy platform that offers three 50-minute online sessions to students. Cody Semrau founded BetterMynd in 2017 because of mental health challenges he experienced himself as a college student. BetterMynd serves 75 colleges and universities.

Art History a Tactile Topic for SMC Students

Southwestern Michigan College’s Art History I (Art 203) class is more tactile than you might imagine. When Sherrie Styx’s students learn about marble sculpture, they carve soapstone and alabaster stones using small files.

Michigan Reconnect Helps Veteran Find Her Welding Passion

Katie Brownlow earned her one-year Southwestern Michigan College welding certificate in April and parlayed her internship into a job with Cotton Gin Smokers, premium, hand-crafted barbecue smokers made on Terminal Road, Niles. Brownlow, a single mom and veteran who turns 38 in July, plans to continue to her welding associate degree. “I’ve got that fire in me again,” Brownlow said, “and it’s not burning out. I’m not going backwards anymore.”

Tales From Adult Learners—John Gershoffer

When John Gerschoffer graduated from Edwardsburg High School in 1994, he signed up for programming classes at Southwestern Michigan College. “Programming didn't sit well with me, so I ended up stopping,” he said. Gerschoffer's back on campus now, having received an SMC advanced technology scholarship, and is studying robotics. In fact, he's in his final semester.

Tales From Adult Learners—Tim Witherow

Tales From Adult Learners—Tim Witherow, Welding Technology

Tales From Adult Learners—Samantha Roberts

Tales From Adult Learners—Samantha Roberts

SMC Graduates 15-Member Nursing Class

Southwestern Michigan College May 10 welcomed 15 new nurses to America’s largest health care profession with approximately 4.3million registered nurses (RNs) nationwide. The federal government projects that more than 203,000 new positions will be created each year through 2031. The median age is 46, with more than a quarter of RNs reporting that they plan to leaving nursing or retire over the next five years.

SMC’s 58th Commencement Graduates 365

A future teacher who honed perseverance as a volleyball player and an adult business student with his head in the clouds spoke on behalf of Southwestern Michigan College’s Class of 2025 May 10 at 58th Commencement ceremonies outdoors in Alumni Plaza on the Dowagiac campus.

SMC Honors Outstanding Graduates

As a first-generation college student, Mitzy Grana Diaz of Hartford never expected to stand at a podium and “feel genuinely sad about leaving.” “As the first person in my family to graduate high school, every step of this journey has been completely undiscovered territory for me. I had no road map to follow, so I created my own,” Grana Diaz told SMC’s Outstanding Graduate Reception May 8 in the theatre of the Dale A. Lyons Building on the Dowagiac campus.