Mary Dennis is WSCC’s Student of the Month.
(Photo Provided)
The Washington State Community College Student of the Month is an amateur photographer whose career pursuit was inspired by her picture-taking pastime.
Mary Dennis took her love of capturing images and turned it into a career, but with a twist. Radiology wasn’t the first career choice for the 26-year old.
As a new graduate from St. Marys High School, she was convinced the lucrative field of pharmacy would be a great career and moved away to go to college. That’s where she discovered that working in this profession wouldn’t give her the one-on-one engagements with people that she likes.
“It’s not all about the money. For me, it’s more about the personal approach,” Dennis said.
Not wanting to disappoint anyone, she attempted to push herself through the program. As a result, she found herself sinking into a depression.
Ultimately, for her mental well-being, she quit school and returned home. Dedicated to improving her health, she turned to her favorite hobby, photography, and things began to come into focus when she began working in sterile processing at a local hospital.
She was exposed to a wide array of professions, including radiology.
That’s when she realized that she could align her recreational activity with career pursuits and decided to earn a degree in radiology.
“It started with my passion for photography, but I wanted something beyond the surface. (Radiology) is like photography with your bones,” she said.
While making the decision was easy, it was still scary, however, fear can be motivating, she said.
“When you start saying ‘yes,’ it opens you up to new experiences and opportunities,” Dennis said.
She enrolled at Washington State and saw her future through a new lens.
“Working in radiology allows me to make those personal connections that I truly love, but it also allows me to utilize my critical thinking skills,” she said.
In the classroom and clinical rotations, her proclivity for her work is apparent to her instructors.
“Clinically, Mary has excellent patient care and always makes her patients feel comfortable. She takes pride in her images and has great attention to detail. Didactically, she has never wavered,” Aimee Pehipplis, Washington State Radiologic Technology Program director, said. “She excels in the classroom because she is an engaged student that listens, asks questions, and follows up for complete understanding. She is able to critically think through the many aspects of radiologic science.”
In July, Dennis will earn her associate degree in Radiologic Technology and plans to pursue additional certification to become a CT or MRI technologist.
