| |
The pediatric nurse
practitioner who sat down with Angela Daugherty and explained
why her son had experienced seizures did more that day than
simply explain a frightening medical condition.
She also became a role model for what Daugherty aspires to be.
“I had always known that I wanted to go into some sort of
medical field,” says Daugherty, married to Brandon and the
mother of Gabriel, aged 19 months.
“But I realized then that you have to work in the setting you’re
passionate about. You have to find your place in nursing and
pursue that field.”
If all goes according to plan, Daugherty will earn her
Registered Nursing degree from Dalton State in the spring of
2009, and will pursue a Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree at
Emory University the following fall. She plans to become a
pediatric nurse practitioner so that she can help educate other
young parents, helping them become better prepared for their
roles as parents.
“When my son had his first febrile seizure, I didn’t realize
that he was more likely to have seizures in the future,” says
Daugherty, aged 20, who attends school part time, juggling
homework, marriage, motherhood, and extracurricular activities. |
 |
“If I had understood
seizures, and had known more about how fevers can affect babies,
I would have been a bit more prepared the first time I had to
take my son to the emergency room,” she recalls.
“A lot of doctors don’t have the time to talk with young women
like me. But the pediatric nurse practitioner was very patient
and did us ‘a world of good.’”
Daugherty, who lives in Ringgold, says she initially attended
the University of Georgia because she wanted to experience life
at a “big school.” As one of 95 graduates of Gordon Lee High
School’s Class of 2005, Daugherty admits that she was ready for
a change.
But she soon discovered that she not only felt disconnected at a
big state school, but she also felt overwhelmed in classes
filled with more than 300 students.
“I felt like I was more of a number than a name. At Dalton
State, I feel like I am valued, and that the professors really
do care about my success in school. Across the board, the
education I’ve received here has been excellent,” she says,
noting that her Dalton State English class was “much, much
harder here than at UGA.”
Daugherty says before she transferred to Dalton State that she
had bought into a common perception that smaller non-residential
colleges were for “people who were not smart enough or not rich
enough to go away.”
“But what I found here was the complete opposite. That
stereotype just isn’t the case.”
In Daugherty’s case, academic success has been a challenge, due
to the responsibilities of caring for a young son, but
definitely doable. She has earned a 3.9 grade point average and
was inducted into Phi Theta Kappa, the honor society, last
spring. She has also become involved with the Northwest Crescent
Leadership Alliance and has become a Student Orientation and
Advisement Resource (SOAR) leader who helps with pre-semester
orientations.
“I had always heard rumors that the nursing program here is very
difficult,” says Daugherty, “and the program has lived up to all
the rumors I heard, including the stories I’d heard about how
passionate the nursing faculty is about teaching.”
She finds that in order to succeed with her responsibilities at
home and school, she has to be very organized and disciplined,
letting nothing stand in the way of her goals.
“Some students can cram before a test and do all right, but I’ve
found that I have to stay disciplined and make myself study each
day.”
“One time last fall my son had to go to the emergency room in
the middle of the night. I didn’t get home until after 2 am, and
then I had to get up early and take a Pharmacology test.
“I did make it to the test and I did very well, but I was
exhausted. What I’m doing will take a lot of sacrifice, but I
know it will pay off.”
|
|
