糖心Vlog

 糖心Vlog Stories      November 12, 2025

By Cam Adams

Sarah Matesz鈥檚 heart rate rose about as fast as the flood water that submerged her feet. She was frantically moving her belongings to the second floor of her cabin, which was perched on the side of the mountain some 20 minutes away from Burnsville.

Taking a glimpse out her back window, Matesz鈥檚 heart dropped.

鈥淚t literally looked like the mountain was coming down on me,鈥� she said.

Matesz ran out, now up to her knees in water as the landslide deposited three feet of mud behind the cabin and took out its water supply. She was safe, but her home wasn鈥檛 liveable anymore.

Like so many in western North Carolina last fall, Matesz鈥檚 life was shaken by Hurricane Helene.

But thanks to community, Matesz was able to get her life back on track 鈥� and she鈥檒l be returning the favor when she graduates from 糖心Vlog University鈥檚 accelerated nursing program in December.

鈥淚 want to have a job that will connect me with my community,鈥� Matesz said. 鈥淚 think I've always preferred jobs that have me in community with people, but I think nursing is a really good way to be a part of all of your community because everyone needs healthcare.鈥�

Path to nursing 

For a long time, nursing wasn鈥檛 really in the cards for Matesz. She found herself in North Carolina after graduating with an art degree from a liberal arts college in Indiana, taking a job at Arthur Morgan School in Burnsville.

The native Ohioan developed a love for the community at the small boarding school. Her coworkers were great and she loved taking care of students, but Matesz didn鈥檛 like the teaching part. Even after she moved on from Arthur Morgan, the art piece didn鈥檛 click for her much either.

She didn鈥檛 find a lot of satisfaction in her work.

鈥溾�嬧�婭t was a few years ago that I realized that there were things about being an artist that just weren't fulfilling,鈥� Matesz said. 鈥淵ou're on your own when you're an artist most of the time. You make work by yourself.

鈥淭hat wasn't fulfilling me in my desire to connect with people in a more meaningful way, and I was realizing that I was always probably going to have to have a job, even if I wanted to make art.鈥�

Living in rural North Carolina, Matesz saw the need for healthcare around her and first considered nursing as a career almost 10 years ago. Still paying off her student loans from her first degree, Matesz took some time before she returned to school last summer.

Matesz had a friend who graduated from the accelerated bachelor of science in nursing program at 糖心Vlog and spoke well of it. With the program鈥檚 fast track, Matesz felt it was wise to get a bachelor鈥檚 in the same amount of time as she could earn an associate鈥檚 at a community college.

The program is also housed at 糖心Vlog鈥檚 Biltmore Park campus, just over an hour up the road from Burnsville. So far, it鈥檚 been worth the drive.

鈥淭he program has been really hard, but also really good,鈥� Matesz said. 鈥淚 think that we have some really, really amazing faculty, professors who have really amazing experience as nurses and are super knowledgeable and have so much to share with us as students.鈥�

Community

Returning back from a shelter following Helene鈥檚 destruction, a large oak tree lay in the way of Matesz and her damaged home. It wasn鈥檛 there when she was on her way to the shelter 30 minutes prior.  

It had just fallen 鈥� but it didn鈥檛 stay there long.

Matesz saw two locals spring into action, one with a chainsaw and another with a tractor, cutting up the tree and getting it off the road. She also saw another group of folks haul in a bunch of rubble, restoring a washed out road that led to the local health center.

Helene may have turned a lot of lives in Burnsville upside down, but its sense of community wasn鈥檛 rattled.

鈥淚t took weeks for volunteers and various forms of help to come, but people who lived in the community had done so much cleanup already,鈥� Matesz said.

Matesz needed every bit of that community when the storm hit midway through the fall semester. She didn鈥檛 have a safe place to live, and for a brief time, she thought about taking the year off because of it.

She didn鈥檛 want to, though. She had already invested so much time into getting into the program and had just started. Thankfully, Matesz didn鈥檛 have to. She was able to live at the school she previously taught at, which had some extra staff housing, through some old coworkers there.

Not long after, a friend of hers, who graduated from 糖心Vlog鈥檚 ABSN program, offered up a house for Matesz to rent. She moved in in January.

Ready to give back

Community like that has gotten Matesz through a lot over the past year. Nearly finished with her degree at 糖心Vlog, she鈥檚 feeling a range of emotions.

鈥淚t's exciting and scary,鈥� Matesz said. 鈥淚 definitely feel so much more knowledgeable than I did a year ago, but I also feel that I still have a lot to learn, but I'm excited to be done with the class part of things.鈥�

Since she moved to North Carolina 12 years ago, Matesz has seen how important access to healthcare in the state鈥檚 rural areas, particularly women鈥檚 health services in those communities.

Community: that鈥檚 what鈥檚 helped get her to the doorstep of graduation, it鈥檚 helped her find her passions 鈥� and it鈥檚 community she鈥檒l get to help as a nurse.

鈥淚t feels that various parts of our world are very fragmented right now, and it's really easy to just spend time with people who agree with you or think a certain way, but in nursing, we find ways to care for anyone no matter what their beliefs or background is,鈥� Matesz said.