CCC Lives Transformed by Metallica
A lot of heads were turning in July 2021 when Central Community College announced it had received $100,000 from Metallica’s All Within My Hands (AWMH) Foundation. No, that is not a misprint, it’s Metallica. In partnership with the American Association of Community Colleges, AWMH is funding the Metallica Scholars Initiative to “transform the future of students in the community.”
The Metallica Scholars Initiative is now in its third year and has fundamentally improved the earning potential for students who become Metallica Scholars. CCC earmarked the funds for its growing criminal justice program and will prioritize underrepresented female and minority groups.
Since the scholarship was announced, the lives of many CCC criminal justice students, who are Metallica Scholars, have been transformed. Meet two of them, Nicole Holder and Tanner Broich.
Holder is a lifelong resident of Grand Island and a graduate of Grand Island Senior High School. When she began her CCC education, she was only going to take one class at a time because she didn’t want to take out any student loans. Holder was also unsure about getting a degree. That all changed when she was notified that she was selected as a Metallica Scholar.
“I’m going to start full-time classes in the spring and just get it done because I don’t have to worry,” said Holder.
Holder was working part-time, but thanks to the scholarship she was able to quit working and focuses on her studies and being an at-home mom. She and her husband have been married for nine years and are the parents of three sons, ages 7, 6 and 2.
While growing up, Holder thought she wanted to be a police officer. However, that changed as she spent more time learning the trade and ultimately decided she wanted to be able to have a deeper impact on outcomes for individuals brought into the system, and to be more involved in the next steps.
“They [police] just have to call another agency and leave with that in their head,” Holder said. “I want to be the person that can actually help the victims.”
Holder said one thing that her criminal justice study at CCC has helped her understand, is that there is a lot to learn about rehabilitation.
“I found it interesting that jail isn’t used as much as I thought for rehabilitation because a lot of people get more chances than I realized,” said Holder.
Broich has also lived in Grand Island his whole life and is a 2020 graduate of Northwest High School, where he played football and ran track for the Vikings. He said he chose CCC because of its low cost and because the criminal justice program is better than those at other colleges and universities he researched.
“[Criminal justice] has always been an interesting topic to me,” said Broich, who wants to become a police officer and eventually work his way into administration. “It’s a very diverse field and there is so much to it. There is always something new that happens.”
Broich said he really enjoys learning about forensics and the investigative process of solving crimes and receiving the scholarship makes it even more enjoyable.
“I’ve always been a big fan of Metallica,” Broich said. “So, when I got the call that they were even having a scholarship, I was pretty excited. [The scholarship] has allowed me to not have any debt and given me freedom so I am not continuously tied to a job to pay my way right now.”
Broich will finish his course work in the spring semester and then he hopes to intern with the Grand Island Police Department before earning his degree in fall 2022.
CCC is one of 23 community colleges that are participating in the Metallica Scholars Initiative. For more information about the Metallica Scholars Initiative, please visit allwithinmyhands.org.