Former waitress is at the top of her class at Heritage College

Cindy Gullatta's hands might be forever indebted to Jean Swearingen.

While taking classes at Heritage College for a medical insurance coding and billing certificate, Gullatta would scratch the palms of her hands frequently before a test, causing them to be sore and bleed. Right before an exam, she would get sick to her stomach, which happened throughout the 35-week program.

Because of Gullatta's nervousness, Swearingen, Gullatta's instructor, didn't tell her student when her exit exam was going to take place -- she didn't want to see Gullatta's hands scratched up because of a test.

"That's the first time she got mad at me," Swearingen said. "I told her, 'You have to take this today.' "

Gullatta took the test and received the highest score in the class. She graduated from Heritage College, 3315 Spring Mountain Road, with a 4.0 grade-pint average and was valedictorian of her program.

"When I first walked in there, I was the most scared individual," Gullatta said.

"She was the top student in her program," said Beth Berselli, executive director of the college. "She represents the fact that we do have a lot of non-traditional students here."

As a pupil at 50, Gullatta was a lifelong waitress before she broke her hip -- an injury that prevented her from continuing work in that profession.

"When she first started, she thought she was too old," Swearingen said. "She had no confidence, no self-worth at all."

Swearingen, however, saw Gullatta much differently. The instructor said Gullatta was a model student, always offering to help her peers with their work and even offering to assist Swearingen with teaching when she was ill one day.

"I miss her. She was a big help to me," the teacher said.

"I love to read, I love school," Gullatta said. "It gave me a lot of confidence."

When Gullatta, a Henderson resident, was looking for employment after her externship, the office where she completed her schooling offered her a job.

"They hired her at the highest amount of pay that any extern of mine was ever hired at," Swearingen said. "I'm really proud of her. She really is a special person."

"She'll go very far in this field, and she's the one who did it," Swearingen said. "She's probably one of the best out there."