By Megan Owens
PHOTO 1: Megan at the 2017 Graduation Fair.
I began my college experience at a four-year university in Tennessee, unsure of the direction my life was headed. I had no passion for the major I was studying, which was accounting. I decided to move back to Dallas, N.C., and to pursue a degree in the medical field. I received a recommendation from a sonographer in Gastonia to attend South Piedmont Community College for medical sonography. I was told that the best students come from South Piedmont.
I always strive to be the best at whatever I pursue, so this school sounded perfect for me. To apply for the program I had to be certified in a different field first. So I ventured into Medical Assisting. Because I had other classes to take, I might as well take a year to learn a new profession.
The medical assisting program at South Piedmont was a catalyst for everything that was to come. When I first sat down with Professor Laney to go over my class schedule, I was overwhelmed, and I remember telling her, “Look, my end goal is to get into that program next door, the medical sonography program.” I remember her looking at that dreaded TEAS score and telling me that even to be considered I needed to get above an 80. I recognize now how helpful she was to push me to be better. I quickly discovered that it was the perfect fit. Little did I know that this program lit a fire in me for so much more.
By May 2014, I had graduated with my associate’s degree in Medical Assisting and was accepted into the Medical Sonography program the following March.
The next two years in the sonography program were a whirlwind. I graduated with my associate’s in Diagnostic Medical Sonography, voted Greatest Sonographer by preceptors, voted Most Likely to Excel by my classmates, and was awarded the foundation grant recipient by the North Carolina Ultrasound Society.
Words cannot describe the wonderful opportunities that were placed at my feet just by attending SPCC. I am proud to let people know where I received my degree. The medical assisting faculty was a catalyst to help me achieve my dream of being accepted into the sonography program. The medical sonography professors guided me through different clinical sites and exposed me to so many job opportunities. I honestly would not have the career I have now without their help. Word of mouth about the excellent graduates this school produces landed me the full-time position I was offered only two months after graduation.
In every way possible, SPCC provided a diverse educational experience I would not have gotten anywhere else. Every professor, staff member, and student provided help and support during my four years at SPCC. I originally enrolled at the school without a vision for the career I was headed toward, and now seven months after graduation, I have a fire that SPCC was able to light and guide me into helping others. I am so grateful and blessed for the opportunity to have attended SPCC and to have graduated with the best of the best and to have been taught by the best of the best.