A variety of factors contribute to attrition in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education at the community college level including underpreparedness, lack of confidence, and broader socioeconomic issues. This work describes our efforts to improve student learning and overall success in a community college General Biology I lab course through the implementation of microscope clinics specifically designed to improve student microscope skills. We measured the effectiveness of our clinics using pre- and postclinic surveys as well as student performance on a microscope practicum. The majority of targeted students responded positively to the clinics and subsequently performed well on a hands-on microscope practicum. We feel that efforts such as ours can help students master a specific task of relevance to their further studies while simultaneously increasing confidence in their overall STEM "identity," leading to improved performance across their educational landscape.