Nursing student overcomes challenges of transferring from Philippines university to earn clinical spot at Montana Tech

A Montana Tech sophomore has overcome obstacles that stood in the way of earning a nursing degree after moving halfway around the world from the Philippines to Butte.

Nera Pelobello has earned a spot in Montana Tech’s clinical portion of the Bachelor of Science in Nursing program at the Sherry Lesar School of Nursing. It’s a journey that started back in her home country, the Philippines.

Pelobello has always had an interest in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) classes, and her interest in healthcare was sparked by watching many medical dramas, including Grey’s Anatomy. After she graduated high school, she attended nursing school in the Philippines for a year and did well in her classes. Then, her family decided to move to Montana, where her step-father is from. It completely upended her academic plans.

“When I got here, they said they could not accept all of my credits, so I had to go back to being a freshman. They only accepted two classes,” Pelobello said. “Plus, I had to stop classes for a year and establish my residency in Montana. I basically lost two years of schooling.”

Not to be deterred, Pelobello worked with Admissions Representative Debbie Luft, who specializes in bringing transfer and international students to campus, to make sure all of her paperwork was in order.

“I love Debbie,” Pelobello said. “I even asked her some questions not related to admissions and she was very helpful.”

Pelobello made the intimidating trip to the embassy in the Philippines to obtain the proper visa, took off on a plane from her beautiful tropical home, where it was a balmy 80 degrees in October and landed in Montana, where it was a mere 40. While Pelobello says she would have called herself a shy person, she’s not that way anymore because she’s learned that to succeed, you have to be unafraid to ask questions and try new things. She holds a student worker position where she helps direct people at the Student Union Building and says a lot of times she sees people who are also shy or afraid to ask for help. She tries to connect them with campus resources like the Food Pantry.

“Don’t be shy,” Pelobello said. “I know it's hard, but once you really go outside of what you are used to, it's not that big of a deal. If you just take a little step closer to really go outside of what you are comfortable with, it will not feel weird, and you will actually love it.”

Pelobello said even though she’s classified as a Montana resident, she has enjoyed being integrated into a community of international students on campus.

“I get invited every time they have these gatherings like the end of year international students’ dinner,” she said.

In Spring 2025, Pelobello gained admission to the upper division, clinical portion of the nursing program, after completing her prerequisites, many of which were a repeat of what she had already learned.

“The classes were pretty easy for me, especially because I had taken some of them in the Philippines,” Pelobello said. “They weren’t that hard.”

Pelobello also had to pass the Test of Essential Academic Skills (TEAS) exam. The TEAS exam is a test administered to gain admission into the clinical portion of nursing schools. At Montana Tech, your exam score is factored into your application, along with your overall GPA and your grades in certain prerequisites. The TEAS exam is known for being a difficult test, and poor scores can often be a roadblock to clinical placement.

Pelobello soared through.

“I didn't get a big score, but it wasn't that bad,” she said. “It was just basic knowledge in math, science, writing, and English. I had to study for it for sure, but it wasn't that hard. I feel like everyone should pass it if they want to be nurses.”

When she received her acceptance into the nursing school, all of the courses that had to be repeated, all of the time spent waiting for residency was worth it.

“I was beyond happy,” Pelobello said. “I cannot even express it as much as I want to express it because I've really been waiting.”

Pelobello is looking forward to taking classes in the Lesar Family Nursing Simulation Center and beginning clinical rotations. She has an interest in emergency room nursing and pediatrics. Once she graduates, she’d like to explore other areas besides Montana.

“Butte is nice, but I want to explore other states,” she said. That's what I'm intending to do. I feel like I can go a lot of places with a nursing degree, too. Maybe I’ll go somewhere on the coast, because I miss the beach. If the opportunity arises and it is possible, I hope to experience working as a nurse in the Philippines, too.”