Meagan Puckett an illustration of a pupil who persevered to go a grade postgraduate successful Surry Community College’s Medical Office Administration program. She started taking assemblage classes astatine 17 years old, and she graduated astatine 36. (Submitted photo)
Life presents each of america with challenges and setbacks, and it’s up to each of america to determine however to react. Meagan Puckett chose not to springiness up.
Her communicative of earning a grade successful the aesculapian bureau medication (MOA) programme astatine Surry Community College is 1 of resilience. She began taking classes successful the MOA programme astatine 17 years aged and past completed it astir 2 decades aboriginal astatine 36.
“Meagan is the explanation of perseverance. She knew what she wanted, and she did not springiness up connected her goal,” said Mitzi Poore, SCC pb teacher for MOA/office administration.
Puckett didn’t spell the accepted nationalist precocious schoolhouse path. She near North Surry High School aft her sophomore year.
“My parents pulled maine retired of schoolhouse due to the fact that I had started getting successful occupation and was heading down the incorrect path. My parents decided to homeschool me,” Puckett said. “I began homeschooling successful 2001, and it lasted for astir 3 months earlier my ma and I realized it wasn’t moving for us. At that point, I decided to spell to Surry Community College for the GED alternatively of going backmost to North Surry. I went and took the pretest, and that allowed maine to skip the classes. Now I conscionable had to hold for the test.”
However, the North Carolina legislature had conscionable passed a instrumentality that students had to be schoolhouse oregon advancement towards graduation to support a driver’s licence oregon learner’s licence if they were nether the property of 18.
“So, I had to be people 3 hours a time until the adjacent trial was available. For 3 months, I went and studied my allotted hours and past took the trial successful April 2002. I really passed with honors – thing I didn’t cognize you could bash with a GED.”
After passing the GED trial and earning a High School Equivalency diploma, Puckett began aesculapian bureau medication classes astatine SCC successful 2002. She wasn’t definite if it was the close programme for her arsenic she was torn betwixt wanting to go a caregiver oregon enactment successful a aesculapian bureau setting.
“I had a beardown tendency to assistance radical done my job,” she said.
Her mother, Jill Puckett, was an inspiration for Puckett’s aspiration to enactment successful the aesculapian field. Jill Puckett worked for Novant Health for 31 years and retired arsenic a director. Meagan Puckett remembers astatine property 5 oregon 6, going to graduation astatine Surry Community College erstwhile her parent completed the span programme arsenic a Licensed Practical Nurse to gain an subordinate grade successful nursing to go a registered nurse. Her parent aboriginal earned a bachelor’s grade successful nursing and past a master’s grade successful healthcare medication and works successful medication astatine Northern Regional.
“My ma supported maine successful getting my archetypal occupation astatine Novant erstwhile I was 17,” Meagan said. “I started arsenic a fiscal counselor/patient entree specializer successful the exigency country astatine Novant Health Forsyth Medical Center successful Winston. I was determination for astir 2 years earlier transferring to the cardiac level arsenic a portion caput wherever I worked for 2 years earlier leaving Novant to prosecute different possibilities. I came backmost to Novant Health successful 2013 arsenic a cardinal scheduling specializer astatine Novant Health Imaging Maplewood for a twelvemonth and a half, and past I transitioned to a diligent work coordinator astatine Novant Health Surry Medical Associates, Mount Airy. I was with Surry Medical for 7 years.”
Puckett started and stopped going to Surry Community College 4 oregon 5 times implicit 2 decades. She is simply a subsister of home unit and a azygous ma of 3 children, 1 with wellness issues. She lives successful Mount Airy with her 3 children, a girl Natalie, 14, and lad Bentley, 11 and lad Kyrie, 4.
“Life successful wide kept maine from finishing my grade erstwhile I was younger. It would go excessively stressful, truthful I would person to retreat from classes. I went done a horrible narration with home violence. I was besides a azygous mom, and thing would ever travel up with the kids. Natalie was diagnosed astatine 9 months aged with a familial information – Neurofibromatosis,” Puckett said. “We were backmost and distant from Baptist and past Chapel Hill each 2 to 3 months successful and retired of hospitals and doctors’ offices. My girl had to get MRIs each 3 months.”
Natalie has tumors connected her optic nerves, and Meagan feared her girl would look chemotherapy treatments, but the healthcare squad determined that chemo wasn’t necessary.
“I was trying to clasp it unneurotic for my daughter. I retrieve waiting connected the telephone telephone that week, and astatine 8 p.m., I got the telephone from the aesculapian team, and they said determination was not capable maturation for chemo since determination were nary changes successful her vision. If the tumors commencement increasing back, we volition beryllium successful that aforesaid boat. She is not successful the wide conscionable yet, but the doctors explained that erstwhile she is simply a teen and hits her maturation spurt, past she should beryllium OK if determination is nary maturation of the tumors oregon immoderate changes successful her vision. We person to show her headaches and imaginativeness and beryllium connected alert for imaginable seizures. She’s a consecutive A pupil astatine 14 years aged and plays volleyball. Sometimes it’s hard to judge we went done each that.”
In December 2020, Puckett went backmost to Surry Community College to decorativeness what she started years agone – an subordinate successful applied subject grade successful the aesculapian bureau medication program. She took each her required classes online.
“I loved the online aspect. I could marque my docket retired and person immoderate flexibility with my classes. I could enactment done the week astatine my ain gait arsenic agelong arsenic I was gathering deadlines. It was a fantastic accidental arsenic a moving mom. The Medical Office Administration grade being online was a lifesaver. I was moving full-time, with 3 kids, portion I was going backmost to school.”
In bid to postgraduate successful 2022, Meagan took 5 classes that spring.
“I was acrophobic I would discontinue again. There were galore precocious nights and tons of prayers,” she said.
Puckett graduated successful May, and a mates weeks earlier she walked crossed the signifier astatine commencement, she had landed a promotion. She is present a managed attraction specializer astatine Novant Health and works from home.
“Getting my grade helped maine get a caller job. It has expanded my knowledge. I person been moving for Novant for truthful long, and I had a ton of cognition and penetration to cognize this is what I genuinely privation to do,” Puckett said. “Finishing this grade solidified that this is what I request to be, and it has opened doors for me.”
In October Puckett began moving toward a bachelor’s grade successful healthcare medication done Purdue University Global successful an online program. She plans to implicit the bachelor’s grade programme successful June 2023 and was pleased to find retired that galore of her Surry Community College classes transferred into her bachelor’s grade program.
“Thanks to Surry Community College, a ton of credits were accepted there,” Meagan said.
Puckett has large plans.
“I americium hoping to go a session head oregon get a enactment role, and I americium besides funny successful teaching aesculapian bureau classes 1 day,” she said. “I person ever loved the healthcare setting. I emotion however accelerated paced it is. There is ne'er a dilatory moment. I emotion that it’s ever changing, and determination is ever thing caller to larn and grasp.”
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