Roane State Community College

Morgan Heatherly

 

July 7, 2015

The introduction to sociology course was a fill-in class for Roane State Community College student Morgan Heatherly.

“I loved it,” she said. “It opened me up to new ideas.”

One idea that took root was to major in sociology at the University of Tennessee, pursue a master’s degree in counseling and become a school guidance counselor. Heatherly, a 2009 Campbell County High School graduate, will start at UT this fall.

“It's like realizing a dream,” Heatherly said. “The University of Tennessee has always been my dream school. Roane State helped me along.”

Before she enrolled in courses at Roane State’s campus in Campbell County, Heatherly was a waitress, bouncing from restaurant to restaurant. The money was OK, but after a few years, Heatherly asked herself a tough question.

“Why am I just doing these dead-end jobs and making minimum wage when I can go back to school and get an education?” she said.

She had taken Roane State dual credit courses in high school. When Heatherly went back to school full-time in 2013, returning to the Campbell County campus was “like coming back home.”

“I’ve always been so familiar with this place,” she said. “Everybody is so nice here. Everyone is here to help you, and it’s just so calm. It’s easy to be here. At the same time, the classes push you along to where you need to be.”

One of Heatherly’s favorite classes was a course called COLS 1010: Study, Organize, Succeed. The course teaches study strategies and helps students explore careers. Heatherly’s course was taught by Katherine Ayers.

“It was one of those filler classes, and it ended up being one of the most important classes that I had with one of the most important teachers that I had,” Heatherly said. “It got me focused on what I wanted to do in life.”

Now that her time at Roane State is over, Heatherly knows she is ready for the next step.

“I had that mentality of ‘I’m not good enough to do college,’” she said. “After being at Roane State, that went away. I don’t have that mental block. I am thankful that I was able to come to this campus. I’m glad we have Roane State in this community. I just really hope other students take advantage of it being here.”

Fall classes begin Aug. 24.

Tennessee’s Community Colleges is a system of 13 colleges offering a high-quality, affordable, convenient and personal education to prepare students to achieve their educational and career goals in two years or less. All colleges in the system offer associate degree and certificate programs, workforce development programs and transfer pathways to four-year degrees. For more information, please visit tncommunitycolleges.org.