“When I was in high school I had an advisor that told me that I was not smart enough to be a nurse. That I should try for something less and I said, in my heart I said, I am not going to let you hold me down,” said Lisa Ishmael Chaney, Health Services Coordinator at Fresno City College.

Chaney has been working at FCC for a little over a year. In addition, she teaches online classes at both the bachelor and master level for the University of Phoenix.

Chaney started her college education at Solano Community College in 1974. There she earned her associate of science certificate as a registered nurse.

“I persevere until I get something done,” Chaney said. She believes she gained this quality from her deceased father, Ish.

Ten years later, Chaney proceeded to obtain her bachelor of science degree at the University of San Francisco. But she didn’t stop there. Chaney stretched to received her MSN in nursing administration through the University of Phoenix. Finally, she acquired her school nurse credential from Fresno State.

“I was probably 4 or 5 years old and I tried to save a mouse,” Chaney said. That was the moment she discovered she wanted to be a nurse. “A cat had gotten it and I took it from the mouth and then I got bit. I used to have a scar on one of my fingers.”

Her young nurse instincts were not enough. “It [the mouse] died,” she said. “I’m better now.”

In her mid 20s, Chaney hit a bump in the road when she divorced from her first husband. She recalls him being at her pinning ceremony when she was graduating from SCC. “We invited the most important person in our life and they pinned you with a nursing pin,” she said.

Despite the challenges of divorce and working late night 12-hour shifts in the emergency room at Kaiser Permanente, Chaney continued onto achieving her bachelor of science degree.

“Know that the hardest decision to do something is that one, saying you’re going to do something,” she said. “And after that it’s just hard work and you can do it.”

Chaney says her highest moment in life was when she was 36 years old and gave birth to her only child Ryan. “Yeah, he’s the best,” Chaney said with a bright smile. After Ryan was born, she waited until she was in her early 40s to obtain her masters.

“Do not ever let anyone ever tell you you can’t do something,” she said. “That has made me.”

Chaney says the only regret in her life was waiting to get her education. “I wish that I would’ve gotten my education sooner,” she said. “I wish that I would have finished my bachelors and my masters sooner. I might have gone out for a doctorate in something, but it just didn’t play out that way.”

Efrah Ali, a former FCC student, came into the health center with her husband, Zaid Ali, a freshman who had just arrived from Saudi Arabia. Chaney guided and supported the couple as they made various calls in attempt to get husband Ali’s immunization record from Saudi Arabia. “She was very patient,” says wife Ali. “Kind. She was very sweet.”

Chaney says she would like students to remember her as “thoughtful and met their needs. That they can come to me and they knew that I would help them.”