Macie Campbell-Dudley is collecting new titles at a rapid pace. A daughter, a wife, a new mother and, as of last week, a Licensed Vocational Nurse.
Campbell-Dudley was among more than 25 nursing graduates who earned their degrees on Aug.6 during a special summer graduation ceremony in the Ranger College Auditorium in Ranger. Overall, more than 50 students received their degrees or certificates of completion in general studies, nursing and cosmetology.
For Campbell-Dudley, the ceremony was a dream come true in that it allows her to join the healthcare industry, and help provide a stable future for her newborn son, Dawson Dudley, who attended the ceremony along with her husband, Blake, and several other family members.
“This feels so amazing,” said the 2014 graduate of Rochelle High School. “I ended up getting pregnant as I was going through the program and I had my baby in the last semester. It was challenging, but it will be worth it.”
By becoming an LVN, Campbell-Dudley said she is following in her mother’s footsteps. Her mother is a captain in the Brady Volunteer Fire Department and a member of the city’s EMS squad.
“That (her mother’s efforts) inspired me to do this,” she said. “She made me want to get into nursing.”
Her original career path almost took her in a different direction. After graduating from Rochelle, she said initially decided to go to school to be a dental assistant.
“That kind of fell through and I was like, ‘you know what? I’m going to do nursing.’ I feel like this is my calling,” she said. “I want to help people and this is a way I can do that.”
Campbell-Dudley said receiving her LVN degree was just the first step in her nursing career. She will return to Ranger College in the future to become a Registered Nurse.
“That’s my goal,” she said. “I’ll wait until the baby gets older and starts school. That way it will be easier on us. But I will go back and become an RN.”
Ranger College offers several nursing opportunities, including LVN and RN classes. For more information about the RC nursing program contact Dr. Sandra Lee, RC Dean of Nursing, at (325) 200-4132 or via email at nursing@rangercollege.edu.