Shasta Hughes is a single mother determined to advance.  She first came to CHRISTUS St. Michael as an Aramark service employee in 2002 but by 2003 had joined the hospital’s staff as a Monitor Tech Unit Clerk.  Shasta was quickly promoted to CNA and enrolled in SAW.  It was then that she realized her goal of becoming an RN.  The next step up her career ladder would be to enroll in the LVN program at Texarkana College. 

SAW taught Shasta determination.  When the challenges of balancing work, family, and the LVN program became overwhelming at a point, Shasta lost the scholarship she was counting on to finance her education.  Determined to see it through, she identified other means to pay her tuition and celebrated her graduation in March 2008.  Shortly after the ceremony at Texarkana College, Shasta told Catalyst Learning that “SAW helped me gain the determination to finish school. Last Friday I became an LVN.  I plan to continue my education and become an RN in 2010!”

Catalyst Learning Company honored Shasta in an ad that ran in Catholic Health World last year.