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When Dennis Mankel broke his neck working on jet engines in the military, he went from being able to do anything he wanted, to doing almost nothing at all. After seven surgeries to fuse his neck together, he was told to retire. But a personal desire to keep going led him to enroll at Western, where he found success academically and as a student leader. "I was a little apprehensive about going back to college after 15 years away from school," Mankel said. "At WNC, I received straight A's except for one B, and that was from a professor I'm now great friends with. In all my classes at Western, I never met one instructor that didn't want me to succeed." He became involved in student government issues, serving as student body senator, treasurer and finally president, while maintaining a near perfect 3.92 grade point average. "When you feel like you're a part of something, you have a vested interest in it," he said. He found the "open door" atmosphere at the college inspiring, from the instructors to the college president, "I can knock on Dr. Lucey's door any time and get advice from her. Everyone always made me feel like I was part of the college and was contributing to the success of it." Mankel learned American Sign Language and was named the ASL Student of the Year for 2006-2007. He considers himself handicapped, but doesn't want anyone to think that he is getting by on a disability. "The college broadened my outlook on life and made me realize sometimes you have to rely on other people," he said. "I have never hesitated once in telling people what a great school WNC is." Mankel is now off to the University of Nevada, Reno, where he will pursue a Master's Degree in Speech Pathology.
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