The ASN faculty of Southeastern Technical College (STC) proudly pinned graduates in the 2022 Associate of Science in Nursing (ASN) Bridge Option program in a ceremony held in the Toombs Auditorium on the Vidalia campus.
The graduates were Rayne Binns and Amber Hood from Swainsboro, Jennifer Borders from Byron, Maeghan Carver and Harlee NeeSmith from Hazlehurst, Nicole Dasher from Metter, Kathryn Duncan and JaMeshia Kemp from Savannah, Jacob Floyd and Rya Simmons from Brooklet, Latosha Grace and Amy Price from Soperton, Summer Grantham and Racheal Thomas from Reidsville, Carley Jackson and Talia Williams from Baxley, Ashlyn Johnson from Cobbtown, Alison Jones and Monica Moseley from Twin City, Tanesha Jones, Raechel Roberts, and Brenna Vance from Waynesboro, Hayley Kuntz from Vidalia, and Bailee Small from Millen.
Jennifer Corner, Associate of Science in Nursing Program Director, opened the ceremony with a welcome. She congratulated and thanked the graduates for choosing Southeastern Technical College as part of their journey and charged the graduates, “As you enter the nursing profession, allow the same concepts of hard work, determination, and dedication to always drive you to provide the best care for your clients and your patients.”
The ASN Bridge Option program, accepting cohorts once a year, is offered on the Swainsboro campus and allows qualified individuals who possess current, Georgia unrestricted licensure as a licensed practical nurse (LPN) or paramedic (EMT-P) to bridge their education into a degree program.
Rayne Binns has achieved all of her healthcare education goals through STC, receiving her Nurse Aide certificate in 1998, her Practical Nursing diploma in 2004, and now her Associate of Science in Nursing degree – all in Emanuel County where she calls home.
Rayne said, “I believe in technical education because it provided me an education that I could achieve in a short amount of time – just what I needed as a parent of three and as a full-time worker. My best advice to anyone considering this route is to go for it; always remember that opportunities do not just happen, you create them.”
To the audience she said, “It is a true honor to celebrate this occasion with so many wonderful people.” She also thanked the audience, as friends, family, and faculty, for stepping up to help this class to achieve this dream. “Without your selfless acts of love and kindness, we would have never made it this far. A year ago, we received what I like to call the golden ticket. It acknowledged that we were accepted into one of the most competitive programs that technical education has to offer. We, as graduates, accepted that invitation, but you all in the audience accepted that invitation as well.”
Latosha Grace, 2013 Practical Nursing graduate of STC, said, “After nine years of nursing, I decided it was time to level up, so I came back to where I started. Tonight, I walk across the stage ready for the National Council Licensing Examination for Registered Nurses (NCLEX-RN).”
Graduates pledged themselves to the work they have chosen by lighting their ceremonial lamp, a tradition in honor of Florence Nightingale, the founder of modern nursing. Graduates were awarded their pins by their instructor Beth Hendrix.
Nicole Dasher said, “As much as I love being a paramedic, I look forward to being a nurse in an ER setting. I attended the Bridge Option program because I wanted a more stable setting for my children and my family.”
