Lynchburg News
Campus News & Events
In Her Own Words: A Graduate Shares Her Story
"When I started National College in the Winter Term of 2008 I was at one of the lowest points in my life. I had moved here from Florida and worked at a job at Smith Mountain Lake and then with out any warning the workers were laid off just before Christmas 2007. I looked for jobs but nothing was out there. I was like a lot of unemployed workers, older and had lots of experience in many types of jobs, however there wasn't anything out there except, ‘Sorry we are not hiring.'
"I made a call to National College and made a appointment to come in and tour the college and discuss my options. At this time my main goal was to get a job that I would enjoy along with paying my bills. I had worked in the medical field for years but didn't have any formal education just stale work experience. After talking with Nancy Wilcox in admissions I decided that I enjoyed the billing and coding part of health care and that seemed at the time like the best route to take in getting back into the health care workforce as soon as possible. Billing and coding is in a new phase that requires more than on the job training. I found that at National instructors and staff that are willing to go the extra mile for every student. Not only did I graduate with a diploma in billing and coding, I decided to continue my education in medical assisting.
"I graduated in May 2009 with the billing and coding diploma and then started the June 2009 term in medical assisting. Then my many prayers were answered and I got a job in billing and coding with the help of [Career Center Director] Anita Kumar. She worked with me and sent out my résumé. I went on two interviews and much to my surprise I got a job doing billing and coding for Dr. Brenda Waller who has a practice on Thomson Drive near Lynchburg General Hospital. I started working there the last week in August 2009. Without the training that I received at National I would not have been able to understand all the new procedures that have taken place in billing and coding and in health care in general. Billing and coding is important to a doctor's practice because it is considered the "bread and butter of the practice"; the claims have to be coded and go out in a timely manner as the [entire revenue] depends on this area of the practice.
"I have been so impressed with National that even though I have a job I am still planning to receive my degree in medical assisting. I am in my second term in medical assisting and I am planning on graduating in fall of next year as many of my classes crossed over to the medical assisting degree. This was also a plus with Dr. Waller, it impressed her that I wanted to continue my health care education and is very understanding about letting me out of work in time to get to classes.
"I would like to express my thanks to everyone at National for all their time and effort in helping me get a job that I enjoy and to the instructors who went the extra mile to help me in getting a first rate education. I also would like to thank Ms. Kumar for working so hard in helping and giving me the encouragement to keep trying and not give up when it seemed that the job market was at the lowest. I can't end this without a special thanks to [Campus Director] Bill Baker who always had his door open to me and told me "Sandra, you can do it." I just hope that I can make all of the staff at National proud of me as I start this new part of my life.
"Thank you all at National all the positive attitude that was put forth to me by all the staff when I felt like giving up. I'm so glad that I didn't."
Sandra Brumfield
