Stone Mountain Grad Puts Herself First While Pursuing a Career in Healthcare

For years after graduating from high school, Symone Ridley worked retail jobs at Walmart and Home Depot. She thought about doing something more, particularly in healthcare, but she wasn’t convinced she could actually make it in the field.

Her older sister, a nurse, thought otherwise.

“She always told me that I could do it, but I never thought I could,” Symone said. “She was like, ‘Come on, if you don’t do it now, you’re never going to do it.'”

Last summer, Symone finally took her sister’s advice. She enrolled in the Medical Assistant program at UEI in Stone Mountain, GA, taking what she hopes will be the first step in a long healthcare career. Just a couple of months into the program, she’s already doing some of the hands-on work she once wasn’t sure she could handle.

This was a huge step for Symone, one that meant finally thinking about herself for a change.

“I was like, ‘I’ve got to put myself first. I keep putting everybody else before me,'” she said. “This is what I really want to do, so I’m going to go get it.”

Getting Her Foot in the Door

Symone graduated from high school in 2021 and spent the next five years working in retail. She enjoyed helping people, but watching her sister build a career as a nurse made her wonder if she could be doing more for others and herself.

Medical assisting offered a place to start.

“I feel like this would be the best way to get into helping people because I know medical assisting is not where I want to stop at,” Symone said. “This is just my foot in the door for right now.”

When Symone became serious about returning to school, she and her best friend sat down and made a list of possibilities. UEI kept coming up in her searches, although she initially had concerns about whether she could afford to attend.

Then she noticed that some of the people she’d gone to high school with had attended UEI. She took a closer look at the program and decided to apply in July.

The transition back to school came with some nerves. Symone expected the beginning of the program to involve paperwork and time getting acquainted with her classmates. Instead, she was drawing blood by her third day.

“I was just so scared,” she said.

Her instructor, Mariam Dubose, helped her through it.

“She was like, ‘You don’t got to be scared,'” Symone said. “‘Everybody has their first time of doing something.'”

That reassurance mattered to someone who had already spent time wondering whether she was capable of going back to school in the first place.

Symone said Dubose takes the training seriously and expects her students to be ready when it’s time to enter the field. At the same time, she’s willing to slow down, walk students through a skill, or stay late when someone needs extra help.

“When I’m in class and I’m kind of nervous or I don’t believe in myself, she’s always like, ‘You got it. You can do it,'” Symone said. “She actually takes her time with us.”

Putting Herself First

Symone is still near the beginning of her Medical Assistant training, but she’s already thinking about where she wants it to take her.

Her immediate goal is to finish the program and begin working as a medical assistant. From there, she wants to continue her education and eventually work as a travel ultrasound technician. Ultimately, Symone wants to work with children as a pediatric nurse.

“That’s where my heart is,” she said. “I can’t wait to help the babies.”

For now, though, she’s concentrating on improving her skills every day. And she’s thankful she doesn’t have to handle it all alone. Symone said the atmosphere at the Stone Mountain campus has made it easier to ask questions and just be herself.

“It feels like a community,” she said. “They treat everybody with respect, and I really love that.”

That support has been particularly helpful as she balances schoolwork with the rest of her life. At the same time, though, Symone has learned that reaching her goals requires making room for her own priorities.

It’s something she thinks other prospective students should consider, especially those who’ve spent a long time thinking about school but haven’t yet taken the first step.

“You’ve got to put yourself first,” she said. “If you keep putting everybody else first, you’re not going to get to where you want to be.”

Symone knows what it’s like to be nervous about starting. She felt it before enrolling, and she felt it again when she was asked to draw blood just days into the program. But she’s learning to work through those nerves rather than allow them to control her.

“Be proud of yourself for taking the next step in your career,” Symone said. “It’s OK to be nervous, but you’ve got it. Just keep looking forward and don’t look back.”