{"id":49993,"date":"2019-10-10T14:11:00","date_gmt":"2019-10-10T19:11:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/newsroom\/?p=49993"},"modified":"2024-11-12T14:13:57","modified_gmt":"2024-11-12T19:13:57","slug":"you-know-life-happened-fractures-couldnt-crack-acc-radiology-graduate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/newsroom\/2019\/10\/10\/you-know-life-happened-fractures-couldnt-crack-acc-radiology-graduate\/","title":{"rendered":"&#8216;You know, life happened&#8217;; Fractures couldn&#8217;t crack ACC Radiology graduate"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<div class=\"embed-responsive  embed-responsive-16by9\">\n<div class=\"iframe-container\">\n<div class=\"iframe-container\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"embed-responsive-item\"   class=\"embed-responsive-item\"   title=\"Gaye Judson&#039;s Story\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/PioUc-jcRYk?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIt doesn\u2019t feel real yet. I have been on a never-ending road trip. Just getting from where I was to where I am now, it\u2019s a sigh of relief. It has all been a journey.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Austin Community College graduate Gaye Judson earned her Associate of Applied Science degree in Diagnostic Medical Imaging at ACC in August 2019 \u2014 a feat that she says almost didn\u2019t happen.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThis is what I wanted for many years. If it weren\u2019t for this group of professors and how much they care about their students, I wouldn\u2019t have made it. They want us to succeed and fulfill our dreams.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In April 2018, just three weeks before the end of the semester, Gaye suffered a stroke.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI was bawling my eyes out at the hospital. It wasn\u2019t because of the stroke. It was because I didn\u2019t think I could complete the program. In my mind, I was worried the professors would tell me to go and come back next year. That wasn\u2019t an option.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">To her surprise, Gaye\u2019s professors told her to rest, and they would work to keep her credits up at the college. Two weeks later, Gaye took her final exams and moved her remaining clinical to the following semester.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI don\u2019t know if I would have come back and finished without their support. My recovery wouldn\u2019t have been as fast. The coursework was great therapy. Working on papers helped my hand-eye coordination. It also improved my critical thinking.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The encouragement Gaye received mirrors her first time at ACC. She initially enrolled out of high school, but a three-week stretch of missing school almost forced her to drop out.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cAfter getting strep, a kidney infection, and my wisdom teeth removed back-to-back, I didn\u2019t think there was any way I could catch up. I submitted my withdrawal, but my professor called me and said he would see me Monday. They worked to get me back on track.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">During her first stint at ACC, Gaye found herself bouncing around courses trying to determine what she wanted to do. As life would happen, Gaye ended up moving to California with her family. A few years later, she started to explore her future again.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI was a single mom struggling to feed my kids.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">At the influence of a friend, she began working in the radiology department of a hospital.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI loved it. I loved every second of working there. The people and patient contact are what led me to pursue radiology.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Fast-forward a few years, and Gaye found herself back in Central Texas and back at ACC.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cMy kids were done with school and doing their thing. It was time for me to finish. Coming back to ACC, after all I have been through, I was more focused. I don\u2019t think it has sunk in yet that I have graduated, but I am ready for what is coming next.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Since graduating, Gaye landed a job as a&nbsp;radiology technologist at a Seton Ascension clinic. She plans to continue her education by getting her CT and mammography certification.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cRadiology is the first step in a diagnosis. It&#8217;s rewarding, it\u2019s exciting, it\u2019s changing. Technology is changing all the time, and it is getting better and better. It is one of the most challenging things you have ever done in your entire life, but it is worth it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For more information about ACC\u2019s Radiology program, visit&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.austincc.edu\/academic-and-career-programs\/areas-of-study\/health-sciences\/diagnostic-medical-imaging-radiology\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">austincc.edu\/radiology.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u201cIt doesn\u2019t feel real yet. I have been on a never-ending road trip. Just getting from where I was to where I am now, it\u2019s a sigh of relief. It has all been a journey.\u201d &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/newsroom\/2019\/10\/10\/you-know-life-happened-fractures-couldnt-crack-acc-radiology-graduate\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3930,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,15,17],"tags":[3727,3726,2539,3728,3188],"class_list":["post-49993","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-current-students","category-facstaff-news","category-news-and-announcements","tag-diagnostic-medical-imaging","tag-gaye-judson","tag-radiology","tag-stroke","tag-student-profile"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49993","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3930"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=49993"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49993\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49993"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=49993"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=49993"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}