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Bergen Community College nursing student Tyler Bolus, ‘27, is studying in the daytime nursing program to pursue a career as a psychiatric-mental health nurse practitioner (PMHNP).
When Bolus graduated high school, he originally enlisted in the military to become a United States Air Force pararescueman in the Air Force’s combat search-and-rescue medics. Unfortunately, Bolus was medically disqualified during his service and left the Air Force after approximately four months. After leaving the Air Force, Bolus decided to pursue a career in nursing.
“Nursing was not a fallback — pararescue was about being the person who shows up on someone’s worst day with the training to do something about it,” said Bolus, of Garfield. “I am now pursuing mental health nursing, where the intervention is verbal rather than surgical, but the premise is the same.” According to Bolus, it is the “same job, different uniform.”
“I wanted to become a nurse without starting out in debt — NJ STARS made Bergen the obvious answer,” said Bolus, of Garfield. Bolus was awarded a NJ STARS scholarship through the NJ STARS program to study at Bergen. The NJ STARS program is a state program that provides free tuition to New Jersey’s highest achieving students at their home county college.
Bolus is grateful for the student support services available to him on the Bergen campus. “The Office of Specialized Services set up accommodations that made lectures workable for me, and having counseling available on campus at no cost mattered more than I expected going in,” he said. Beyond the Office of Specialized Services, Bolus is appreciative of campus access to the Sidney Silverman Library, the Simulation Lab, and physical campus spaces that work. “I didn’t expect a community college to have a Simulation lab,” he said.
He serves as secretary for the Nursing Student Club and a student representative for the Bergen nursing program at Open House. He has spoken with prospective students and families about the nursing program. Bolus acknowledges the knowledge and skillsets of Bergen faculty along with the various types of courses available to students. “The professors have real experience in their fields, both in nursing and in the A&P prerequisites, and they teach like it,” said Bolus. “And the course catalog is wide enough that I picked up things I’d never have found a door into otherwise — animation, sound design, scuba.”
Self-driven and motived, Bolus is independently studying Mandarin using spaced-repetition flashcards so that he can teach himself how to use Mandarin medical phrases for patient communication. He is currently pursuing CAD, 3D printing, soldering, and microcontroller workshops through Bergen’s STEM Research Center. Self-taught in goldwork embroidery and metal-thread hand embroidery, Bolus constructed a neo-heraldic family crest to recognize his family ancestry.
Bolus is a certified lifeguard for the Garfield YMCA pool and the open waterfront at Darlington County Park Lake in Mahwah. Skilled in surveillance, water rescue, and emergency response across pool and natural-water environments, Bolus performed a double rescue at the YMCA pool. He has maintained certifications for Open Water Scuba Diver, American Red Cross Lifeguard, Lakefront Lifeguard, Basic Life Support through the American Heart Association, and Mental Health First Aid through the National Council for Mental Wellbeing.
Based in Paramus, Bergen Community College (www.bergen.edu), a public two-year coeducational college, enrolls more than 24,000 students at locations in Paramus, the Philip Ciarco Jr. Learning Center in Hackensack and Bergen Community College at the Meadowlands in Lyndhurst. The College offers associate degree, certificate and continuing education programs in a variety of fields. More students graduate from Bergen than any other community college in the state.
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