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80 Years of Success -- Surgeon sees his MCC education 'second to none'
(EDITOR'S NOTE: This is the second in a three-part series celebrating 80 years of success at McCook Community College and its predecessor McCook Junior College. This series examines how three students -- one in the 1950s, one in the 1980s and one in the 2000s, arrived at their decision to come to McCook and what that decision has meant for their careers.)
By Brent L. Cobb,
McCook Community College News Bureau Coordinator
When Dan Farrell graduated from McCook High School in 1981, he believed his future existed somewhere in world of science -- but for high school graduates, science is a great, big world.
Few graduates leave high school with detailed road-maps and timetables to deliver them to where they want to go. Fewer still arrive at their original destinations, and many, like Dan, don't really know where they want to go -- but they want to get away from home.
For Dan -- now Dr. -- Farrell, his science-inspired journey began in Barnett Hall on the McCook Community College campus and continued to Kearney, Lincoln, Omaha, Colorado, California and Florida.
"High school students who see themselves as future medical students always seem to see themselves going away, but for me, when I considered all the options I realized I could get everything I needed at MCC," Farrell said. "Not going away to college" gave him an economical way to accumulate credits and allowed him to continue working for his father at Farrell's Pharmacy while attending school.
After leaving MCC, he received his bachelor's de-gree in Biology and Edu-cation at UNK, received his masters in Exercise Science at UNO and his doctorate at the St. Louis School of Medicine in St. Louis, Mo.
In 1997 he began an Orthopedic Surgery Res-idency in Orlando Medical Center and in 2002 received a fellowship at The Denver Children's Hospital in 2002 for an emphasis in Pediatric Orthopedic and Sports Medicine. He has practiced Orthopedic Surgery and Sports Medicine at Com-munity Hospital in McCook since 2003.
He's taken many courses --- introductory through advanced graduate classes -- at numerous institutions. Yet he contends that the first step of that journey --introductory classes at MCC during the fall of 1981-- was just as critical to his success as the advanced physiology and chemistry classes he took later in that journey.
Foremost in his MCC recollections are Jim Hall's biology and inorganic chemistry classes, Jim Garretson's astronomy class, Roger Wilson's classes and Lynn Salyer's math classes.
"Mr. Hall made abstract concepts feel real; Mr. Garretson's astronomy classes were so much fun and put science into perspective; Mr. Wilson had the ability to take what we were learning and applied it to our own environment and Mr. Salyer found a way to make calculus and math fun," Farrell said.
He's complimentary of the technical resources available at MCC from the computer and information systems to the updated science laboratories.
Farrell said he really enjoyed the one-on-one interaction he received from faculty and fellow students at MCC as opposed to some of his graduate-level classes where he was an anonymous entity in lecture halls filled with 100 students.
"The availability of in-structors and counselors were extremely helpful to me in making difficult decisions about career options. The science instruction I received at MCC and later at Kearney prepared me well to go on," Farrell said. "And all 66 hours I took at MCC transferred."
While his lifelong passion for science and ultimately medicine was fueled at MCC, his time on campus produced many unique opportunities that he knows he would not have received elsewhere.
"I was a science major but at the same time I was active in jazz band and choir and stage band with Dick Driml. We went on trips and participated in various contests. That was incredible," he said. "In many other places I wouldn't have had that chance because I wasn't a Music Major, but at MCC I was able to do it all."
Farrell continues his love of music by singing in various groups, taking piano lessons and playing the trombone in various ensembles, including the Oberlin Area Concert Band which played recently at McCook's Heritage Days USO-style show.
Like many former MCC students, Farrell said another one of his fond memories was the canoe trip down the Niobrara River with Roger Wilson. He said the camaraderie led to lifelong friendships developed with continue today.
He remains thankful he made the decision to attend MCC, noting the library always open, there are always plenty of co-ed intramural activities, and the opportunity to be involved in things like music, drama and astronomy.
Farrell said his decision in 1981 to "not go away to college" is one he continues to be thankful about.
"With all the education I received, from Colorado State University to Cal-Berkley, the quality of education and the quality of the teachers at MCC is second to none," Farrell said.
"It enabled me to become who I am and allowed me to do what I wanted to do."
Farrell's family includes his wife Kathleen, and their children Lauren, 10; Christopher, 7; and Nicholas, 5.