“The quality of the nursing program is excellent.”

Wendy Harless
AAS, Nursing (in progress)

Life took a dramatic turn for Wendy Harless, an elementary school teacher, wife and mother. A sudden, life-threatening medical event landed her in the hospital for a month. Toward the end of her stay, just to keep from getting bored, she began keeping track of the timing of her medications and visits from her doctor. "You could be a nurse," commented one of her nurses, who had come to know Wendy quite well.

That comment resonated with something Wendy herself was becoming aware of.

"I saw the difference my excellent nurses made in my recovery. They took care of me in the ways I needed to be taken care of," she says. "I felt I could do that."

Wendy thought how she could combine her interest in health with her teaching skills. When she was fully recovered she began looking at nursing training programs, with the idea of becoming either a school nurse or a patient educator. She chose Forsyth Tech.

"The quality of the nursing program is excellent," she said. What sets it apart from others is the amount of hands-on training.

"Some programs give you no clinical experience until graduation," she said. "Working with patients in the hospitals makes the learning real."

Another factor that made Forsyth Tech attractive was the availability of scholarships. With generous scholarship assistance, Wendy didn't have to work full-time while she was in school. She was able to combine her education with her family responsibilities, part-time work in the Kernersville YMCA youth programs and substitute teaching in the public schools.

Wendy is looking forward to completing her associate's degree in the standard two years, then embarking on a new career. She now views her medical crisis as "a huge wake-up call" that forced her to examine what she wants to accomplish in life. And she credits the nurses at Forsyth Medical Center and the nursing instructors at Forsyth Tech with helping her to refocus her dreams and goals.