When David Gawel weighed 325 pounds, it was his son Aiden who helped turn things around.
Aiden, a 2023 Abington Senior High School state and national track champion, got his father into running, and David went on to lose half his body weight.
That shared discipline set the stage for what came next: both of them enrolling in, and ultimately graduating from, Montgomery County Community College’s Dr. Stuart H. & Sandra K. Fine Nursing Program.
David, 56, is a former Pennsylvania State Trooper who was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder.
In the summer of 2023, while splitting his time between a security job and Montco coursework, he decided to channel his own mental health journey into a new career.
“Mental health is often overlooked and underserved, especially in the medical field,” David said. “Because of my background and suffering through PTSD, I really have a passion for helping other people through that.”
Aiden, now 21, had been weighing a career in pharmacology when his father’s path pointed him toward nursing instead.
He hopes to eventually work as an anesthesiologist. With tuition fully covered through his Chipotle manager position and a high school athletic scholarship, Aiden enrolled at Montco that same summer.
Just as Aiden had pushed his father to keep running, his presence in the classroom pushed David to work harder academically.
“He was such a good student; he was further ahead than me,” David said of his son, who had completed AP Chemistry in high school.
“I had to work really hard to get caught up to his level.” The effort paid off in May 2026, when both earned Associate of Applied Science degrees from Montco’s nursing program.
David served as a speaker for both the nursing pinning ceremony and Mental Health Awareness Week at the College, using his platform to reduce stigma.
“Having a mental health condition doesn’t mean that you’re less than,” he emphasized.
He also completed the honors version of the Caring for the Client Across the Lifespan course, gaining direct clinical experience with patients from correctional facilities and individuals navigating severe depression, suicidal tendencies, and other mental health crises.
That experience led to his forthcoming position at Fairmount Behavioral Health System. Aiden is actively interviewing for hospital and rehab center nursing roles.
Both credit Montco’s faculty with making it possible. Aiden praised Nursing Instructor Christine Troyer for her “deep understanding of content and compassion” and highlighted Clinical Instructor Christina Sirianni as another standout.
David called Troyer the best professor he has ever had.
“You’re kind of laughing as you’re learning with her,” he said. The College’s career fair and faculty-led site visits also helped Aiden build real-world connections with area hospitals.
For David, who describes Montco as “the hardest accomplishment” of his academic life — surpassing even his state police training — the experience was deeply personal.
“One of the most important moments of my life has been seeing my son grow into an empathetic man through the nursing program,” he said. “It was really, truly, important for me to graduate with him.”
Since finishing the program, David has completed a full marathon. Aiden has “almost” run one. Some things, it turns out, you finish at your own pace.
Interested in launching a career in Nursing or Healthcare? Montgomery County Community College offers rigorous, supportive programs designed to prepare students for the careers that matter most.
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Montgomery County Community College
Montgomery County Community College exists to open doors. With more than 100 degree and certificate programs, two campuses rooted in the heart of Montgomery County, and a track record of sending graduates into careers and four-year universities, MCCC is where neighbors become nurses, business owners, and engineers. It’s where the Philadelphia region comes to learn, grow, and give back.
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