Stall grad values mentor experience, career
by Cindy AbolePublic Relations
Thursday was a day of celebration for 18-year-old Alexis Witherspoon. With diploma in hand and determination carved out from sound experiences, the accomplished Stall High School graduate focused on her next goal—a career in nursing—thanks to a career exploration program and the guiding hand of a trusted professional and friend.
Described as caring, attentive, dedicated, and dynamic, Witherspoon has the makings of an ideal nurse.
Alexis
Witherspoon
Her journey began at the start of her senior year. Stall High School guidance counselor Sheila Greer responded to a call from Charleston County School District’s School-to-Careers program. Greer identified high school juniors and seniors interested in learning more about health care careers.
At the same time, MUSC Medical Center’s Human Resources Department began a collaborative program to promote mentorship and career planning for Lowcountry high school students. The program supports area students with job and career guidance.
MUSC’s first activity was a Pizza Match Day held in November. It allowed mentor volunteers and student participants to establish student-mentor relationships. Witherspoon matched with continuum care manager nurse Florence Simmons, R.N.
On Groundhog Shadow Day on Feb. 2, Witherspoon spent the morning with Simmons observing practitioners during patient rounds, understanding the role of nurses within the hospital, and getting advice about nursing education and career planning. Simmons also introduced her to the local chapter of Chi Eta Phi, a national sorority for nurses and nursing students, of which Simmons is a member.
“When you work with a person like Alexis, it’s really rewarding,” said Simmons. “You get to see her value as a young lady who wants to learn.”
“Florence’s experience has been a real success story.” said Susan Carullo, manager of compensation and employment, Medical Center Human Resources.
Also on Shadow Day, Witherspoon learned that she had been nominated to attend the National Youth Leadership Forum on Nursing at Boston University. The week-long experience, held in March, helped youths distinguish between nursing and other health care careers through mentorship interaction and learning experiences. It is part of a national program geared towards students interested in pursuing other professional career fields including law, medicine, defense and technology.
With a little help from her school, the Chi Eta Phi Nursing sorority, the Charleston Chapter of the Black Nurses Association, and her family and friends, Witherspoon gathered enough funds and was on her way.
In Boston, she joined 200 participants attending meetings and workshops and learned from specialty seminars featuring different nursing specialties—neo-natal nursing, pediatrics, oncology, labor and delivery, public health nursing, and nursing education.
“Attending the forum was invaluable for Alexis,” Simmons said. “It provided the right blend of hands-on experiences and activities that made a difference for her.”
In addition, she attended a spring nursing symposium and spoke about her Boston experiences and other career planning activities. Witherspoon and Simmons were model communicators, calling and meeting with each other throughout the year.
“I never knew about Alexis’s interest in nursing or the medical field until her senior year and her participation in the schools-to-career program, classes, and mentorship activity with MUSC,” Sheila Brown said of her daughter. A single parent, Brown also shares a connection to health care working as a telemetry technician in pediatric cardiology at the Children’s Hospital. “As opportunities began opening up, Alexis became more interested. It was a decision she made on her own, and that makes me feel comfortable.”
Sharing Thursday’s commencement ceremony with Witherspoon’s family and friends was Simmons. She presented her with a graduation present: a stethoscope. She also offered words of advice: “Always care for your patients. Remember that nursing is a caring profession. Never lose sight of that.”
For more information about MUSC’s mentoring program or to volunteer
as a mentor, call Susan Carullo, 792-1684 or carullos@musc.edu.
Friday, May 28, 2004
Catalyst Online is published weekly, updated
as needed and improved from time to time by the MUSC Office of Public Relations
for the faculty, employees and students of the Medical University of South
Carolina. Catalyst Online editor, Kim Draughn, can be reached at 792-4107
or by email, catalyst@musc.edu. Editorial copy can be submitted to Catalyst
Online and to The Catalyst in print by fax, 792-6723, or by email to petersnd@musc.edu
or catalyst@musc.edu. To place an ad in The Catalyst hardcopy, call Community
Press at 849-1778.