Driven HCC alumna advises others to map out objectives to achieve goals and realize dreams
Mar 29, 2017
For Houston Community College (HCC) graduate Lebaone Llulu Mogotsakgotla, obtaining her doctorate degree in Nursing started with a tactical plan, determination and a whole lot of elbow grease.
Mogotsakgotla, known to family and friends as Llulu, migrated to the United States from Botswana, Africa where she taught high school moral education. Soon after relocating to the United States, she saw the high demand for nurses and strategically decided to go back to school in order to enter the medical industry.
Changing professions proved to be a financial burden. As an HCC student, she worked part-time in the HCC West Loop Campus Admissions Office while going to school to offset the cost of college tuition and other family obligations.
“Whatever obstacle is put in your path, it is important not let it stand in the way of your goal,” Mogotsakgotla said. “It’s necessary to create a two-year and five-year plan detailing what you want to achieve personally and professionally. Then you need to list practical objectives and map out step-by-step objectives to achieve your goals in order to realize your dream.”
In 2004, part of Mogotsakgotla’s two-year plan to obtain her nursing degree included taking smaller, more affordable classes at HCC. She completed her prerequisites at HCC Southwest College and graduated with her Associate of Arts Degree in 2005. Goal accomplished.
The next step? Tackling her five-year plan. She dreamed of having her bachelor’s degree by 2009 and devoted her energy into making it happen. She transferred into the HCC Coleman College Nursing program and graduated with her Associate of Nursing Degree just three years later in 2008. Another milestone achieved.
“I had to set new goals; a new five-year plan. I decided that from 2009 to 2014 my goals would be a mixture of family and education. I wanted to go for my doctorate degree and have a baby,” Mogotsakgotla said.
Keeping her eye on the prize, Mogotsakgotla attended the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston and earned a Bachelor of Science in Nursing in 2010. Two years later, she obtained her Nurse Practitioner degree. She stayed focused and five years later, in December 2015, she graduated with a Doctor of Nursing Practice Degree. Her dissertation titled, “Reducing Inappropriate Antipsychotic Use in the Elderly with Dementia in Nursing Homes: A Quality Improvement Project,” earned her the prestigious Joanne Hickey Clinical Scholar Award. She also received the Sigma Theta Tau International Award in the same year.
“I can't emphasize enough the importance of hard work and not losing your focus,” Mogotsakgotla said. “Times might get tough, but you have to decide what’s important and how you are going to implement your plan for your future – no matter what. It is possible to do whatever you put your mind to.”
What about the second part of her five-year plan?
“I worked for Team Health as a Nurse Practitioner until February. I took off work for a few months to stay home with our newborn and plan to resume work later this year.”
For more information on the HCC Nursing Program, go to: hccs.edu/nursing.