Megan Barkis was a working mom with two young boys and a daughter “on the way” when she enrolled in the surgical technology program at the $$Akron Area campus. Even though she had a job, she knew she wanted more to be able to better support her growing family.
She had previously tried a local state university, but found it did not suit her at all. Some of her classes, in particular, were too big and impersonal. “You can’t talk to the instructors, [you’re in] this big auditorium, they talk over a speaker,” said Megan. “It just definitely wasn’t for me.”
By contrast, the individual attention she received at National made her feel right at home. “I love that it’s almost like a family here,” said Megan. Whether it was during the enrollment process, orientation, or in the classroom, she felt welcome and very much at home. “Every time I came to the school, Selinda [McCumbers, director of admissions] immediately found me, introduced me to everyone, made me feel really comfortable,” Megan said. “All the classmates are really close and you do get to know everybody,” she added. “That definitely made it easy to adjust.”
[img]Megan chose the surgical technology program because she liked the hands-on nature of the curriculum and the variety of options it could provide. She also liked the fact that she could get into the field and begin working in about two years. “They start your externship earlier,” said Megan. “It really opens doors; you can get in there and see exactly what you would like to do.”
Now just past the halfway mark of her program, Megan is comfortable that she made the right decision. “Especially here at American National University I feel that there’s such a good team of people that can really help you and make the transition to coming here really easy.”
A- Megan Barkis is pursuing the surgical technology program at the $$Akron Area Campus.
B- Megan chose the surgical technology program because she liked the hands-on nature of the curriculum.
