When Asheville native Jazmyn Williams decided she was ready to change careers, she turned to A-B Tech to help her achieve a lifelong dream of becoming a nurse.
After graduating high school in Asheville, Williams attended UNC Charlotte on a track scholarship.
“They didn’t have a nursing program then, so I went with education and became a teacher,” she said. “After I graduated with my bachelor’s degree, I came back to Asheville and taught at Eliada Homes. I enjoyed it because I have a real passion for mental health, but I still kept thinking about nursing.”
After several years of teaching, Williams enrolled in A-B Tech’s Licensed Practical Nursing (LPN) program and worked as an LPN at Mission Health for almost five years before graduating from the Associate Degree Nursing program.
“I’ve now been an RN for the last four-and-a-half years working in Labor and Delivery at Mission,” she said. “I love my job and can’t imagine doing anything else. I’m a firm believer in adults going back to school to change careers. It’s never too late!”
Williams said her experience at A-B Tech was life changing.
“A-B Tech provided an opportunity for me to do something I absolutely wanted to do, and I felt good about my decision to go through the LPN and ADN programs,” she said. “I had heard great things about A-B Tech’s Nursing program. I felt when going through it, and especially when I finished, that I was so prepared. It was hard, but I didn’t want to go through an easy program. You have to be challenged (in college) because you’re challenged as a nurse.”
Williams said she now works with nursing students who do clinical rotations at Mission. “We see everyone, and A-B Tech students are more prepared. A-B Tech sets the standard.”
Given the current shortage of nurses both nationally and regionally, Williams hopes more people will consider the profession, but she cautions that “it has to…
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