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“My friend and I talked about what we wanted to do with our lives,” said Herring. “We both knew we wanted to go into the medical field, so we started volunteering at St. John’s Hospital. We would swap off between admin and the ER. After volunteering, we planned out what college we would go to, but that changed when I decided to join the Navy.”
Herring said she initially wanted to enlist in the Navy as a Hospital Corpsman, but there was a two-year waiting period.
“I told my recruiter that if I had to wait two years, I might as well go to college and become a nurse,” she said. “My recruiter presented me several options of other ratings and told me I could cross-rate after several years. I selected LS, which was at the time SK, Storekeeper, because the job was diverse in terms of where you could go and what you could do.”
After Herring put in her time as a Storekeeper, she was ready to cross-rate to pursue Hospital Corpsman as she had originally planned. Unfortunately, the quota was full for her year group and she was unable to change her career path.
“After I was unable to cross-rate, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to make the Navy a career with the rating I was in, so I planned on getting out,” said Herring. “I applied and was accepted to a vocational school, so the timing would have been perfect had I got out. Then I promoted to 3rd Class, and I was shocked. It made me rethink my decision.”
Herring decided to reenlist and continue to seek a career in the medical field with the Navy. Herring researched programs that the Navy offered and came upon the Medical Enlisted Commissioning Program (MECP).
MECP provides qualified enlisted personnel from all ratings a chance to earn an entry level nursing degree.
Herring said after she learned of MECP, she decided to pursue her dream with even more determination and began the process of building the package she would submit.
“When I got to my next command in Japan, I was put to work at the post office,” said Herring. “During my off hours, I would volunteer with the Red Cross. They were able to help me get into volunteering at medical.”
Herring said she was able to shadow Corpsmen and obtain qualifications that allowed her to vaccinate and take x-rays and labs. Herring did this for over a year until she became the Leading Petty Officer (LPO) at HAZMAT.
“After I became LPO at HAZMAT, it became a little bit harder to volunteer because I worked more hours, and I had less time,” said Herring. “I went back to the Red Cross and explained my situation so they connected me with Yokosuka’s hospital. There I worked in the emergency room. I actually shadowed a MECP graduate named ENS Friar. He knew I was working towards submitting my application, so he helped me as much as he could.”
After almost two years of gaining clinical experience, she decided it was time to submit her package.
“I knew this was a very competitive program, so I wanted to make sure that I showed that I was working outside of my rating to get the experience,” said Herring. “I wanted to show that I was very interested and determined to be selected for this program.”
Herring submitted her package in November 2017 and learned she was accepted in December 2017.
I have 36 months to obtain my Bachelor’s degree and pass the exam to become a registered nurse,” said Herring. “Afterwards, I will go on to Officer Development School, and once I’ve completed that, I will be commissioned as an Ensign.”
Although Herring was accepted into program based upon her merit, she attributes her success to her husband.
“My husband was my greatest support system,” said Herring. “He was my backbone. We both talked about it, and we decided together that if this was something I really wanted, we would go full force for it. When I was tired, he reminded me that I was doing this to better our lives for the future. I didn’t get accepted into the program. We did. We both stayed on top of my package. We both stayed on top of deadlines.”
Herring said anyone who wants to submit a package for any program the Navy offers should research extensively. “Don’t just drop a package half-heartedly,” said Herring. “The Navy wants the very best, so you have to be relentless in going after what you want.”
To learn more about the Medical enlisted commissioning program, visit http://www.med.navy.mil/sites/nmpdc/pages/index.aspx
For more news from USS Rushmore, visit http://www.rushmore.navy.mil and https://www.facebook.com/USSRushmore
| Date Taken: | 06.08.2018 |
| Date Posted: | 06.09.2018 21:43 |
| Story ID: | 280321 |
| Location: | SAN DIEGO, CA, US |
| Hometown: | OXNARD, CA, US |
| Web Views: | 36 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Rushmore Sailor gets selected for MECP, by PO1 Reymundo Villegas, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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