SSM Health Foundation – St. Louis provides funding support to a variety of programs and initiatives that stabilize, support, and strengthen our greater St. Louis region. Recently, we learned a student participating in our Community Outreach Education Collaborative Project at Pattonville High School received a full, four-year scholarship to Maryville University! Congratulations to Athena Housley, 1 of 4 Maryville University scholarship recipients chosen for 2023.
Finding her passion
Growing up, Athena didn’t really consider working in health care. Her mom is a nurse, and while Athena looks up to her, that career wasn’t on her list of future jobs. That is, until Athena met a Pattonville senior in study hall who was completing her semester as a Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) through the Community Outreach Education Collaborative Project.
After talking with this senior and the teacher involved with the CNA program, Athena started looking into health care careers and doing more research about the field. In August 2022, Athena immersed herself with medical jargon that quickly became familiar to her. Her days were spent with text-heavy books, soaking in all the information she could to prepare herself for the next semester, when she would spend three hours a day at SSM Health DePaul Hospital – St. Louis. She shadowed departments across the hospital, including labor and delivery and the emergency room.
“It was cool to experience all the different things you can do with a nursing degree,” says Athena. “On the floor, it can get overwhelming, but you could see the calm in the nurses and how they carried themselves.”
Athena’s a-ha moment (the one that reinforced her decision to follow her passion of helping others) was when she was giving a woman a bed bath. Athena just saw her face light up when she was talking to her and helping her care for herself. “Nobody likes being in the hospital, so knowing that I could help her and can help other people feel better makes the hard work all worth it,” says Athena.
For Athena, helping people is at the root of everything. She looks forward to graduating and attending Maryville University in the fall of 2023. Her plans for the future are bright, and she says she hopes to continue serving others through her career.
More about the Community Outreach Education Collaborative Project
This program provides Pattonville students with hands-on learning and an opportunity to explore all the career paths available to them with a nursing degree. This partnership also strengthens the surrounding community, providing North County community members with clearly defined educational pathways, social and economic support, clinical training, didactic education, and job opportunities.
Watch Athena and other students share their experience in the CNA program.