Putting Himself on the Map: A Nontraditional Student Finds His Place

Tom Mello couldn’t imagine himself as a college student. In fact, the San Diego native joined the army in the late ’90s to avoid college and travel the world. When his service ended in 1999, and the only places he’d seen were his base in Kansas and his home state of California—his only place of deployment, ironically—the former infantryman still couldn’t see himself as a college student.

Instead, he bounced around places like San Diego, Sacramento, and Stockton, trying to satisfy his wanderlust. That all changed in 2009, when he found himself struggling as single parent and laid off from his position as a salesman for a mattress store in Stockton. Mello knew he had to step up.

“Finding a way to support and be available for my son was the big thing because his mom wasn’t a positive part of his life,” Mello said. “It was kind of on me.”

But Mello didn’t want to work in sales any longer, he said, so he had to explore other options. Caring for his now 10-year-old son, Daniel, and worrying about the consequences of the Great Recession finally piqued his interest higher education. In 2010, Mello began taking horticulture and landscaping classes at San Joaquin Delta College.

“If the economy was to completely collapse and society was to devolve, then I was going to be stuck in Stockton,” Mello said, half-jokingly. “I didn’t know how to grow food, so I went to school to learn how. Thinking that things could go bad, and that I had things to protect, changed how I [thought].”

With his education in his sights, Mello moved from Stockton to Grass Valley, trying out different courses at Sierra College to see what fit and what didn’t. Eventually, it was his lifelong interest in maps, of various kinds, that drew him to geography––specifically cartography, due to the scientific and artistic methods used to draw maps.

“Ever since I was a little kid, I was drawn to maps. I was very map-nerdy. The planned-view from above was already interesting to me, so I’d always collect maps,” he said.

In fall 2015, Mello transferred Chico State in pursuit of a physical geography degree, but the challenges of balancing a life as a full-time student and a full-time dad hit him hard. He struggled with finding time to work, study, attend classes, take care of his son, and battle on-going bouts of depression. Luckily, his cousin, Joe Mello, a fellow dad and Wildcat, was local and always willing to help.

“Having my cousin here was the deciding factor [to come to Chico State],” Mello said. “Raising my son on my own was impossible, so having that little bit of support made a big difference.”

Having the extra help made it possible for Mello to take a more active role in his education. Shortly after coming to Chico State, Mello scored internships at the Geographical Information Center (GIC) and the Ecological Reserves, where he has worked through the ranks to become the land steward coordinator in spring 2016. His significant contributions on the Reserves include supervising peers, the development of a geodatabase, and creating maps that have been used for promotional materials and activities information at places such as the Big Chico Creek Ecological Reserve (BCCER). Mello also provides technical support for BCCER Watershed Tours.

Mello said working on the Reserves was one of the most rewarding adventures he’s had at Chico State because he prefers to work outside, and it has had a positive impact on his well-being.

“Experiences on the Reserves have been life-changing––life-saving, actually,” he said. “I definitely deal with depression, and I think that working [only] in an office, with everything I went through, I wouldn’t have survived that. Being out in nature . . . just really helped me get through.”

Don Hankins, a professor in the geography and planning department and also Mello’s supervisor on the Reserves, said that Mello showed great enthusiasm and determination to not only attain his academic goals, despite the challenges he faced, but excel in and out of the classroom in any way he could.

“He has been an excellent contributor to class discussions, and frequently [carries them] beyond the classroom,” Hankins said. “Tom has been known to participate in field activities in classes he isn’t enrolled in—sometimes bringing others along with him—just to fortify his own knowledge or learn new things.”

Mello’s penchant for participating to the fullest led him to become an unofficial mentor to fellow students, having many come to him for assistance on class projects, especially in map-making.

“I don’t know how that came about. I think it came naturally for people to ask me questions and I’m definitely happy to help,” Mello said. “I don’t know if it’s just because I’m older or I have a grasp on the technology—I just love making maps.”

Mello’s passion for precision mapping, dedication to his education, and his informal mentorship are what made him stand out during his duration at Chico State. In fact, he awarded as the Department of Geography and Planning 2018 Outstanding Student because of it. However, it is his impact as a person that his own peers and mentors will remember most, especially Hankins.

“I see that people reach out to him, and he is so open about his life. He’s shared some really personal things that happened, and I think it’s so amazing that he’s built that trust in me, too. It’s had an impact on me,” Hankins said.

Mello may have never pictured himself as a student, much less a graduating senior, but his time at Chico State proved to be beneficial in more ways than one. And while he still has a touch of the wanderlust, and he isn’t sure where he’ll end up, he knows as long as he’s outside, he’s happy.