Spring 2008 PDF - University of South Carolina Upstate
Spring 2008 PDF - University of South Carolina Upstate
Spring 2008 PDF - University of South Carolina Upstate
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USC <strong>Upstate</strong>’s alumni have great stories to tell about<br />
their lives after leaving campus – their ambitions, career<br />
paths, volunteer work and families – as well as some<br />
interesting remembrances <strong>of</strong> their years on campus. In<br />
celebration <strong>of</strong> the <strong>University</strong>’s 40th anniversary, these<br />
40 alumni highlighted on the next 12 pages, tell a varied<br />
and rich story about the power <strong>of</strong> their USC <strong>Upstate</strong><br />
degree, and the influence <strong>of</strong> the institution on their<br />
daily lives. We salute these and all <strong>of</strong> the <strong>University</strong>’s<br />
17,000 graduates!<br />
1971<br />
Joy McGaha<br />
Joy was a member <strong>of</strong> one <strong>of</strong><br />
the first classes to graduate<br />
from then-USCS, with an<br />
associate degree in nursing.<br />
She remembers feeling like<br />
“a part <strong>of</strong> history” on her first<br />
day <strong>of</strong> registration because<br />
news media were<br />
everywhere due to the fact<br />
that construction <strong>of</strong> the Administration Building fronting<br />
I-585 had just been completed and the building was<br />
open for business. Joy has been a nurse for her entire<br />
pr<strong>of</strong>essional career, starting out as a staff RN, and<br />
working her way up to the position she has held since<br />
1989 as director <strong>of</strong> health services for the District<br />
5 School system. In this position, she is responsible<br />
for coordinating comprehensive health services for<br />
over 6,800 students, supervising nine full-time nurses<br />
throughout the schools, and ensuring that everyone has<br />
access to emergency care as well as routine daily care.<br />
“My nursing degree,” she says, “gave me a wonderful<br />
foundation for my career…my instructors taught me to<br />
be a true pr<strong>of</strong>essional.” Currently residing in Duncan, this<br />
Spartanburg County native is married to her husband <strong>of</strong><br />
38 years, Chuck, and they have a grown son, Ryan. She<br />
is an active member <strong>of</strong> Cudd Memorial Baptist Church<br />
and has served on various boards including Healthy<br />
Smiles and Middle Tyger Community Center.<br />
development business, and he met his future business<br />
partner, Jim Smith, with whom he has embarked upon<br />
a successful real estate development company, Smith<br />
and Lowe Development. As a real estate developer, he<br />
feels his biggest accomplishment was the development<br />
<strong>of</strong> the Lake Adger community in Polk County, N.C.<br />
He has two children and in his spare time he enjoys<br />
boating and skiing with them. In addition to being on<br />
the <strong>Carolina</strong> Piedmont Foundation board <strong>of</strong> directors,<br />
he also serves on the board <strong>of</strong> realtors for Spartanburg,<br />
<strong>South</strong> <strong>Carolina</strong>, and Polk County. He has many fond<br />
memories <strong>of</strong> USC <strong>Upstate</strong>, and has kept up friendships<br />
and business relationships with many fellow graduates.<br />
1975<br />
Nick Small<br />
Nick was a student at USC<br />
<strong>Upstate</strong> when the campus<br />
was transitioning from a<br />
two-year associate degree<br />
campus to a four-year degree<br />
program. After he completed<br />
two years in Spartanburg<br />
with an associate degree in science,<br />
he transferred to the USC College <strong>of</strong> Pharmacy,<br />
where he obtained his bachelor <strong>of</strong> science degree in<br />
pharmacy. Nick says that the small classes and the oneon-one<br />
relationships with pr<strong>of</strong>essors were very helpful<br />
in preparation for his career. Although several faculty<br />
members left lasting impressions on him, Dr. Tom Davis<br />
was a stand-out because no matter how busy he was, “he<br />
always made time for me with any concerns that I had.”<br />
Currently, Nick is employed as the assistant pharmacy<br />
manager at Publix Pharmacy at Hillcrest Shopping Center<br />
where he fills prescriptions and counsels patients about<br />
their medications. Married for 25 years to Maria, also an<br />
<strong>Upstate</strong> graduate (’85), Nick has two children, Andrew<br />
and Despina. He spends much <strong>of</strong> his spare time at his<br />
church and with his elderly parents. Whenever possible,<br />
he tries to squeeze in golf.<br />
Alumni Pr<strong>of</strong>iles<br />
<br />
Chuck Lowe<br />
Originally from Boiling <strong>Spring</strong>s,<br />
this dean’s list student says<br />
he was well prepared for the<br />
workforce after he finished his<br />
degree back in the days when<br />
the <strong>University</strong> was a two-year<br />
institution. At <strong>Upstate</strong>, he<br />
majored in business administration which<br />
readied him for the demands <strong>of</strong> the real estate and<br />
1976<br />
Mary Lou Hodge<br />
Mary Lou was a non-traditional<br />
student with a husband<br />
and two children when she<br />
attended USC <strong>Upstate</strong>. She<br />
obtained her ADN in 1976<br />
and her BSN degree in<br />
1982. “I now know the entire<br />
experience <strong>of</strong> college was a building<br />
experience and at the end I began to realize how my<br />
<strong>University</strong> Review 17
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