Change Starts Here

Trident Tech Nursing alum Jennifer Kelly arrived in New York City in April - ready, willing and determined to help fight the COVID-19 pandemic. But she quickly realized that no amount of education or experience (including her eight years as a nurse) could have fully prepared her for what she was about to face. “It was surreal at first. I landed at JFK, one of the biggest airports in the country, and it was practically empty. My biggest worry was driving in the city, but there were very few people on the road,” she said. Kelly’s decision to go to New York for the four-week assignment was not taken lightly. She was eager to help on the front lines of the pandemic and her husband and three children were very supportive of her going. But she was hesitant to leave her colleagues. She works at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) and had been a supervisor at the drive-thru testing site from day one. She was reluctant to leave the team she had grown very close to as they faced such...

Trident Tech alum Robin Workman may not be on the front lines, but she is doing her very best to support those who are. As the Heart and Vascular Surgery Coordinator at Trident Medical Center , Workman's patient volume is down. So in between checking on her patients, she is also checking in on her colleagues: lending a listening ear, letting them know how valuable they are and checking in on their personal situations and needs. "They are on the front lines, showing up day after day for whatever task is necessary and needed," she says. "They are my heroes." Workman could be considered a hero herself. She was a part of the very first class of the Associate Degree in Nursing (ADN) program at Trident Technical College in 1983, and the pressure was on to do well. “It started as a partnership with the University of South Carolina, and if we didn’t pass there was a chance the program at Trident Tech would not receive accreditation,” she says. "No ac...