When I was young, I wanted to be a veterinarian. In high school, I did well in science, and I was sure I was going to be a vet until my sophomore year in college.  My sophomore year I made a “D” in physics, which didn’t help my dreams of getting into vet school. I went on to get a Bachelor’s Degree from Purdue University and a Master’s Degree from Clemson University—both in areas related to veterinary medicine.   For four years, I worked in a genetic research lab in the Rheumatology Department at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston.  Then, my husband’s work brought us to the upstate, where we were able to spend more time with his mother and her family. For two years, I was the proverbial “stay-at-home-mom.”  During that time, I thought about going back to work, but I wanted to go further than my Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees would let me.

My mother-in-law was a nurse and so were a few of her relatives. The pay was attractive, and wanted career with opportunities for advancement. So, I enrolled in Tri-County Technical College’s Associate Degree in Nursing program. It was challenging to juggle going to school and taking care of my family. It was also a financial burden, but I got scholarships, which helped. When I started my job at Oconee Memorial Hospital as a nursing assistant, the hospital paid for my first semester. Then, during my second year in Tri-County’s nursing program, I was awarded the William Hazlehurst Memorial Scholarship, which paid for my second year’s tuition.

After I graduated from Tri-County, I continued working at Oconee Memorial as a nurse assistant until I took the State Nursing Board’s exam to become a registered nurse (RN). When I passed the exam, I started working in Oconee Memorial’s Critical Care Unit (CCU) as an RN. My ultimate goal is to be a certified registered nurse anesthetist, a nurse who medicates patients undergoing surgery.