Shannon
Shannon knew she wanted to help people ever since volunteering at a local hospital while in high school. Years later, when Shannon’s father-in-law was hospitalized and placed on a ventilator, she began to ask his respiratory therapist a series of questions to understand her father-in-law’s health condition and methods of treatment. Shannon’s interaction with the respiratory therapist increased her interest in respiratory care.
Shannon researched the respiratory care field and determined her local community college offered a degree program in the field. She also learned that previous college credits would transfer towards her degree requirements. After completing a series of prerequisite coursework for the program, she was eligible to apply for the Respiratory Care Associate in Applied Science Degree program at Southwestern Illinois College.
In February 2017, Shannon obtained admission to the Respiratory Care program that started in August of 2017, but she was immediately faced with the issue of how to pay for the training program. Prior to being accept4ed into the Respiratory Care program, Shannon was a stay at home mother raising her children and her husband was unemployed and seeking employment. She knew that it would be difficult to cover her living expenses and go to school. To make the situation more complicated, she had exhausted all of her financial aid in completing the prerequisite coursework.
Shannon discovered the WIOA program from another student at SWIC and she quickly call our local office to determine if she qualified for the program. In July 2017, Shannon attended an educational opportunities workshop to the WIOA process for training approval.
In August 2017, Shannon was approved for WIOA funding through LWIA 22 to complete the Respiratory Care program. Shannon took full use of the opportunity to set a high demand career path for herself. Despite intense curriculum, multiple clinical rotations and the countless hours of study, she successfully balanced school and home life.
In May 2019, Shannon was able to complete the Respiratory Care training program. She excelled in her occupational training program by maintaining a 3.62 GPA, making the Dean’s List and graduating with honors. In June 2019, she passed her national board exams and received her state license. Shannon recently accepted a position as a Respiratory Therapist with Barnes Jewish Children’s Hospital in St. Louis, MO.