STUDENT PROFILES

Staff Report

	A Southeast Community College
student has been selected to participate
in a science internship program this
summer at the University of Louisville. 

	SECC freshman Lucy A.
McQuiston was recently notified of her
selection as an intern in the University
of Louisville School of Medicine's
Program in Developmental and Molecular
Neurobiology.

	A resident of Smith, McQuiston
will assist UofL research doctors with
various projects during the 10-week
summer session which begins June 2 and
ends Aug. 8.

	McQuiston's selection as a
participant in the program was based on
her work in the classroom at SECC where
she has achieved Dean's List status
during her first year as a student. She
plans to major in a medical related
field at a four-year university upon her
transfer from SECC next spring. 

	A native of Harlan County,
McQuiston, 36, lived in Kansas City for
15 years before returning to Kentucky
two years ago. She is a graduate of
James A. Cawood High School.

	A single mother with three
children ages 6, 10 and 13, McQuiston
has high praise for SECC instructors
Larry Reader and Karen Drake for
providing support and direction as she
pursues studies in the field of science. 

	"Without their support I don't
believe I would be receiving this
internship," she said. "They have helped
me in so many ways, I can't thank them
enough."	
	

by Melissa McCreary

	"I always wanted to be a nurse, that
was the obvious choice; I've always wanted to
help people or be able to fix the problem. I
love working with people and making them feel
better," says Bettye Owens, a nursing major at
Southeast Community College's Cumberland campus.

	Owens, a Lynch native, is a single
mother of three. After her divorce, Owens
decided to return to school and get a degree in
nursing.

	"Nursing is something I've always
wanted to do, and I have worked in that field in
one area or another for the last 10 years," she
explained.

	Owens is an Emergency Medical
Technologist and a certified nursing assistant,
and she presently works at the Harlan Nursing
Home as a Medication Aide.

	Owens has had pleasant experiences
at Southeast.

	"I have enjoyed all my classes. I
love attending SECC, and I love going to school,
as tedious as it gets sometimes," she said. "I
love the challenge of the work."

	Owens continued, "The more covered
up with work that I get the better the challenge
is to get it done."

	She lists Rich Richmond and Wanda
Lewis as her favorite instructors.

	"Both of these teachers had a great
impact on my life. They listened when I needed
to talk, and they talked when I needed to
listen." 

	Owens added, "I will never forget
either of these people and the things that they
taught me about myself."
	
	Owens credits Richmond as the one
teacher who has influenced her life the most.

	"He probably isn't even aware of the
impact that he has had on my life. I learned a
lot about myself in his Human Potential class,
and, at that point in my life, I needed to get
in touch with myself and the choices that were
mine to make," Owens said.

	"If you are confused about matters
in your life, I strongly suggest taking Rich's
class--it was very helpful to me."

	Owens was quick to point out that
SECC is the perfect environment for non-
traditional students.

	"Everybody has been so nice to me. I
was a little self-conscious about being a little
older than everybody else, but I managed to fit
in and was made comfortable by everyone," Owens
said.

	"The people here are very helpful
and kind. I am happy to be able to walk on
campus and be treated as an equal."

	Finally, Owens shares her formula
for success, "study more than enough, work hard
and do the things that you love to do.

	"Don't go into a field that you
don't like, because I don't think you can be
successful in what you do unless you love what
you do. Then the rewards are your own, and
that's what makes what you do successful," Owens
concluded.