Ready for the next step
SPCC graduates head 'out to the real world'

By Tiffany Lane, The Enquirer-Journal
May 15, 2009

Staff photo by Rick Crider SPCC student McKay Porter awaits the cue for her line to proceed into the auditorium. Porter received her licensed practical nursing degree.

MONROE - A few clerical positions and six grandkids post-high school, Stacy Dixon finally has her dream job.

"I needed a career, a position that was going to be here and not go overseas," Dixon said during a break from her job as a surgical technician at Carolinas Medical Center-Union. Dixon is one of 604 students who graduated from South Piedmont Community College and Anson County Early College on Thursday.

"It was tough, ... but I wanted to be done quickly," said Dixon, who took 18 months to complete what is normally a two-year program.

Prior to her classes at SPCC, the mother of six worked in shipping and receiving for Reliance Trading in Bennettsville, S.C., until the plant outsourced its work to China. "Here we go again," she thought at the time, and set her sights on a more "stable" profession.

"There was a lot of uncertainty, a lot of doubt," she said. Nineteen years after earning her GED and with her husband still working, Dixon was soon piling on 18 to 21 hours every semester to get her associate's degree in surgical technology.

Todd Cuthbertson was also anxious to earn his degree in heating and air conditioning.

"It's a two-year degree, but I've been there for three years and I think that's long enough," he said, laughing.

A Forest Hills High School graduate, Cuthbertson admits he's nervous about "going out to the real world and having bills to pay," but said he's fortunate to have a job lined up. Cuthbertson will start his job with Hinson Mechanical on Monday.

"My experience at the college, I'm sure, will follow through greatly with my job," he said, adding that he plans to stick with the company "for a good while." With only a few days to relax before his first day, Cuthbertson still plans to celebrate graduation. "I might go fishin'."

Susan Hosea, on the other hand, had to miss graduation, but said she might go back to SPCC to study criminal justice. Although Hosea earned her GED while living in Maine, she said the credits didn't transfer and she had to start over. "It devastated me," she said, adding that she wasn't excited about relearning algebra, either. "Math is my weak point."

But eight years after high school, Hosea said she's more than happy with the outcome of her education at SPCC.

"When I feel like I can't do something, I try that much harder to excel on it," she said. "I don't like to give up on myself."

Prior to earning the diploma, Hosea worked at a post office in Maine, then took a job at Harris Teeter after her move. She's now a patrol officer for the Matthews Police Department. What's her dream job? "This is," she said. "I look forward to going to work. It's never the same."

"Do what you want to do and make money doing it," Cuthbertson said. Dixon echoed the same advice. "I love my job," she said with a big smile.



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