SPC Student Tapped as President

 of

 Nursing Student Association

 Amanda Hurt-Piercy, staff writer

For the second consecutive year, a South Plains College nursing student was elected president of the Texas Nursing Student Association.

Skylar Meloy, a 28-year-old nursing student, was elected president for 2006-2007 at the state convention in February. Meloy will take the position of president in June 2006 and will preside over the 2007 state convention in Austin. Fellow SPC nursing student Danielle Strandlein served as the 2005-2006 president.

“Skylar is very ambitious,” said Jan Buxkemper, assistant professor of associate degree nursing at SPC. “ He sets goals and reaches them. He is a very good leader and will be great in whichever direction he decides to go into in the nursing field.”

Meloy ran against three other candidates and received 109 out of 114 votes to win the presidency at the San Antonio convention.

“I had no intention of running for president when I went to the convention,” said Meloy. “But when I got down there and saw what the TNSA was all about, I was very impressed with what I saw.  So I decided I wanted to be a part of it, because I’ve always wanted to make an impact in people’s lives.”

The SPC delegation and nursing classmates helped Meloy with his presidential campaign. They were instrumental in designing campaign materials such as making posters and buttons, and helping with speeches. Meloy underwent a thorough interview series with students from different nursing programs. He was also required to present a speech to the delegation before voting got underway.

“I’m so impressed with all my fellow classmates and the SPC nursing program,” Meloy said. “Everyone is so supportive, and I greatly appreciate the support from everyone.”

Meloy is in the middle of his first semester at SPC and is a part of the associate degree in nursing program. He also happens to be a former graduate of SPC. He graduated from SPC with an associate of science degree in 1999 and worked in retail sales for nine years before deciding to pursue a career in nursing.

“I’ve always wanted to be in the healthcare field,” Meloy said. “My wife is a nurse, and I’ve watched her career and realized how rewarding nursing can be. I picked SPC’s nursing program because I really liked the college when I attended here before, and I heard from a lot of people that the program was really challenging.”

Meloy grew up in Lubbock and graduated from Frenship High School. His wife Cindy is a labor-and-delivery nurse at University Medical Center in Lubbock. The couple resides in Lubbock with their two children, Madison, 5 and Ryleigh, 2.

Meloy will graduate from SPC in December 2007 and is interested in the neonatal intensive care unit, because his daughter Ryleigh was treated there. But he hasn’t completely decided on what area he’ll go into just yet.

“I’m really excited about being elected president,” Meloy said. “What I would like to see is an increase in awareness of the TNSA across the Texas chapters. I want to get more people involved and strengthen the organization.”

Meloy served as the TNSA president-elect at the national NSA convention, which was held April 5-9 in Baltimore, Maryland.