Kathryn Carpenter Hale

Kathryn Carpenter Hale is Edgecombe Community College’s recipient of the 2016 North Carolina Community College Academic Excellence Award. Each year, a student from each of the system’s 58 community colleges is honored with this award.

Hale will graduate from ECC on May 7 with an associate degree in Medical Assisting. While attending ECC, she has been consistently named to the President’s List, received the Medical Assisting Merit Scholarship for Fall 2015, is a member of the Phi Theta Kappa academic honor society, and served as president of the Student Association of Medical Assisting.

Prior to attending Edgecombe, Hale earned a bachelor’s degree in nutrition and dietetics from Western Carolina University. Wanting to improve her clinical skills, ECC’s Medical Assisting program was the perfect fit.

During her two years pursuing her degree, Hale worked full-time as the director of School Based Health Centers for Rural Health Group, Inc. in Roanoke Rapids. She says when she began as a student at Edgecombe, she was not expecting such a rigorous curriculum or the warmth and engagement received from her instructors.

“I really cannot talk enough about how much I appreciate the faculty, my teachers, administrators, and the whole ECC family. They really care about you and genuinely want you to succeed and achieve your goals,” Hale says.

She was especially impressed by Elizabeth Sprinkle, program chair of Medical Assisting. “She really helped us stay motivated and excited about what we were learning.

“Many ECC students are working and going to school, or just have a lot of other stuff going on in their lives. Getting my associate degree would have been a lot harder if I hadn’t had the constant encouragement and motivation from my teachers.”

Hale says comparing her experience at a four-year university and her experience at ECC really made her see the difference a small school campus and small school culture can make. “A lot of times at a big college, you’re just a number. But at ECC, you build relationships with people and it directly impacts your success in school.”

Hale, who passed her national board exam on April 14 and is now a certified medical assistant, plans to use her education to help make an impact on the next generation. In her job with the Rural Health Group, she oversees health programs in local schools, making sure kids are physically, mentally, and nutritionally well.

“In many of the schools I work in, part of the reason kids struggle is due to health issues like nutrition or lack of health care. I try to help increase their chances of success by making sure they’re healthy.”