6 minute read
Alumni Feature
HUSBAND AND WIFE RETRACE GHC’S ANNUAL WYOMING GEOLOGY TRIP FOR WEDDING, HONEYMOON
When Cole said he wanted a destination wedding, Amber thought back to her Wyoming Summer Geology Field Course at Georgia Highlands College, and she couldn’t think of a more perfect location to tie the knot in 2021.
Mr. and Mrs. Burchardt rented a large cabin at the base of the Tetons where their immediate family stayed, and they had the wedding ceremony in the backyard.
“We spent the next two weeks toting around Wyoming, making many of the same stops I had made on the trip I took with GHC,” Amber said. “To us, Wyoming was the perfect place to have our wedding. The magnificent mountains were the perfect backdrop for our ceremony. We spent the days leading up to the wedding exploring the Teton mountain range with our families, making unforgettable memories with the people closest to us.”
When the GHC alumna went on the college’s annual Wyoming Summer Geology Field Course, it was the sights that stayed with her as she learned through experience about geology with real-world settings and applications.
“An early morning kayaking adventure across Jackson Lake in the shadows of the Tetons, towering over the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone and slipping through the gorge at Alcova Reservoir are just a few of the breathtaking moments I experienced,” Amber said. “Coming face to face with a couple grizzly bears and moose were definitely a highlight as well.”
Returning to Wyoming for her wedding and honeymoon allowed Amber to relive her time at GHC while creating new memories on that same special trip with her husband, Cole.
“It was a big trip to plan, but I used my favorite places from the GHC trip to build the trip I took for my wedding,” Burchardt said. “My husband and I had so much fun during our Wyoming road trip wedding and honeymoon. It was easier to plan the trip after going with GHC and already knowing some of my favorite places.”
She added, “My husband had never been to Wyoming, so it was a blast getting to show him all of the amazing sights.”
Burchardt said she encourages all students to take advantage of the annual field course.
“Do not let anything hold you back from this trip. If you have a reservation, my advice is to push through and just go,” Burchardt said. “The friends you have the opportunity to make are an exciting bonus – I walked away with two friends I met on this trip. Two years later the three of us moved to the same city and two of us even work together. The experiences you will have and the views you will see have the opportunity to be life changing.”
miles from home. I could not believe that I had been accepted to medical school in my first admissions cycle,” Frazier said. “Being accepted proved that hard work, dedication, and discipline will get you to your dream goal, mine becoming a Cardiothoracic Surgeon.”
Prepared for the Future
Beginning GHC as a dual enrollment student in 2018, Dillan said he knew from day one he wanted to pursue a degree focused on medicine. At that time, GHC had yet to offer a Bachelor of Science in Health Science, so he planned on transferring to another institution.
But in the summer of 2020, Dillan met with an advisor who changed the trajectory of his plan. He learned that beginning fall 2020, GHC would offer a bachelor’s in health science.
“My advisor, [Assistant Director of Advising] Laura Walton, explained that the program was for pre-medical students to be able to attend medical school,” he said. “Seeing the opportunity to save money and dig deeper into medicine, I decided to stay at GHC and attend the program. Being in the program was the best decision, as many universities do not offer a medical-based bachelor’s degree but rather a degree in the broad sciences.”
Currently, Dillan works as a Patient Care Technician at Piedmont Cartersville Medical Center. He says the experience at GHC and his internship have given him an excellent foundation for becoming a doctor.
He said the most inspiring part of the Bachelor of Health Science program was being able to apply his education directly to the workplace -- and vice versa.
“Being a staff member at the hospital gave me a direct experience that allowed me to engage further in my health sciences courses,” he said.
Inside the classroom, Dillan said the best experience he had at GHC came from meeting professors who care for their students.
“Every professor that I have taken from my dual enrollment classes in 2018 to my last semester at GHC in 2022 has been a blessing,” he said. “I encourage all students to pursue their dreams and let nothing stop them. I appreciate all the hard work that the professors have put in to allow me to engage in the course material and apply it to my future endeavors.”
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GHC but is also proud of being a first-generation college graduate. She also says that her education at GHC helped her in numerous ways that she did not expect.
“You don’t realize how much you learn in college and use in your day-to-day life,” Katherine said. “I remember sitting in my Organizational Behavior class and thinking ‘I will never use this in my career,’ but then you enter the field and it’s actually a very useful skill that you acquired.”
She says anyone considering continuing their education with a bachelor’s degree should keep in mind that the degree opens the door to numerous opportunities, rather than limiting a graduate to a specific position.
“You don’t have to know exactly what you want to do for a long-term career, so going for a long-term bachelors will not lock you into something,” Katherine said. “Even if you don’t know exactly what you want to do, you will learn a lot of skills in these bachelor’s programs at GHC that can translate to other sectors and industries.”
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A Well-Rounded Education for a Passion in Helping Others
“I have always had a desire to fix broken people, whether it be physically or emotionally,” LaQuisha said. “Nursing presented the perfect career path to cater to this passion.”
She initially decided to enroll in GHC’s ASN program because she wanted to expand her knowledge and skill set while attending a local college, and she continued to the RN-BSN program to widen her career options.
“I enjoy learning and mentally challenging myself, and the RN-BSN program allows me to explore various avenues in nursing,” LaQuisha said. “I have learned that in the nursing profession you will never know it all. There is a continual learning process that requires your active participation. It wasn’t until about a year and a half into nursing that I felt like I finally got it and understood processes and transitioned from being so task oriented.”
While pursuing her degrees at GHC, LaQuisha also had the opportunity to share her knowledge with local youth through the Bartow County School System’s Teen Maze, held regularly at GHC’s Cartersville site.
“The Teen Maze simulation provides information about the consequences of alcohol, substance abuse, unhealthy sexual behaviors, and other elements that can harm young people,” LaQuisha said. “I was surprised to learn that the students did believe many of the myths that were circulating. Teen Maze was an eye-opening experience for me to discover that I enjoy being an educator.”
Following graduation, LaQuisha plans to spend another year working with cardiovascular and thoracic patients before pursuing a master’s degree in nursing. She said working another year in her current role will provide her with the opportunity to determine whether she would like to work as a nursing practitioner or in nursing education.
“I would like to explore different career paths of nursing, and I believe that GHC’s RN-BSN [helped] contribute to the process,” LaQuisha said.
