Meet Kate Thorp, a Sault Ste. Marie native and outdoor adventure seeker. She is a volunteer ski patroller at Nubs Nob in Harbor Springs during the winter. In the summer she works at Camp Daggett, belaying kids on the high-ropes and indoor climbing wall. Kate states it best when she says about her hobbies: “Anything outdoors. Mountain biking and climbing are my jam in the summer. Snowboarding and skiing are my peanut butter in the winter.”

A dual-enrolled student at North Central and a home-schooled student, Kate received her diploma in 2011. After that she attended the Culinary Institute of America in California, however, her love of the outdoors and adventure called her back to her roots in Northern Michigan.

“I came back in 2016 and wanted to switch gears to mountain search and rescue so I started with the MFR program Jim Cousino taught in the summer of 2017.”

Her decision to return to North Central were in part due to her positive experience and support she received here earlier in her education journey. “I have always had success at North Central since high school.  The student to teacher ratio, financial aid, and quality of education is top notch.” A scholarship and grants were used to offset the cost of attending NCMC.

Kate finished the paramedic program in the Spring of 2019 and is currently working for the Emmet County EMS.  About NCMC’s college to career path, Kate notes: “In the paramedic program you work closely with a lot of the EMS agencies in the area.  You’re basically doing a job interview when you show up in your student uniform.  A lot of my preceptors at Emmet County EMS also did the paramedic program at North Central.  It is a very small community of mentors that want to see you succeed.”

Kate’s advice to those who are considering their college options, “Believe in yourself, and go for your dreams.”

This fall, Kate will attend Montana State University in Bozeman, Montana, and has enrolled in their snow science and engineering program. We wish Kate all the best!