The message at American Career College-Lynwood's most recent Inspire Club meeting was "pushing forward."
The guest speaker was Jamison Wallington, a vocational nursing graduate from ACC-Orange County who is now the lead medical assistant instructor at ACC-Lynwood.
"I think his message to the team and to the students here was very inspiring. Stay forward-thinking, press forward, don't give up, all the things we've heard but I think by hearing it from him as a real-life testimonial had a huge impact," ACC-Lynwood executive director Lani Townsend said.
Wallington told the Inspire Club that after high school, he knew he wanted to work in the medical profession but didn't know how to get started. He visited the ACC-Ontario campus where his mother worked, which helped him see the many possible routes into the field.
"We're all on this path together and we all need to support and help each other," he said. "I can almost guarantee that once you leave school, the people that you thought you left behind, such as your other classmates, you will see them in the medical field. It is a small environment."
After graduating from the VN program at ACC-Orange County, Wallington worked in an oncology clinic for several years but also found time to return to school and earn his bachelors and masters degrees. He's been teaching medical assistant (MA) classes at ACC-Lynwood for several months.
He encouraged students to keep pushing ahead but also wanted to congratulate the many Inspire Club members who were close to graduating.
"You now belong to a large society of medical professionals that have all fought this fight and have walked this same path that you have," Wallington said. "You came and you conquered. You are a professional."
But Wallington ended his presentation by reminding students that no matter what was happening with them in life or at school — good or bad — that returning to old habits or old ways was not the right thing to do.
"Keep focusing forward. Always forward. Failed mods? Can't change them. Move forward. Late assignments? Can't submit them. Move forward. Passed classes, passed the NCLEX, passed the NCCT? Good. Keep moving forward," he said.
"We have each other to help get through these times and some day you'll look back and you'll be standing in front of a classroom of students and you'll be thinking back to all these memories that you have and you'll say, 'You know what? I started here, around the table at ACC-Lynwood and this is where my journey began. Let me tell you how it progresses.'"
