This is a story of two Logans. There’s High School Dropout Logan and there’s Wildly Successful Logan. And in between the two is a transformative experience at Greenville Technical College.

To help us understand where you’ve come from, introduce us to High School Dropout Logan.

I had a lot of support growing up. But I got mixed in with the wrong crowd in high school and started to slack off. I got so far behind that I became a high school dropout.

My parents and my grandmother tried so hard to set me on the right track. They got me into therapy. They tried to get me away from the people I was hanging around with. They encouraged me and told me I was capable. My dad is in law enforcement, so he tried the tough love approach. But nothing worked.

After I dropped out, they pushed me to pursue my GED. They even paid for my classes, but I didn’t go. I just didn’t have my head on straight. Then finally they said, “We do all these things for you, and you give us nothing in return. If you want to live the way you’re living, do it. But we’re done.” I think my parents giving up on me was my light-bulb moment – when I told myself, I've got to get it together and do something with my life.

So you buckled down, got your GED, and applied to Greenville Tech. Was it all sunshine and rainbows from that point on?

Not at first. I knew I wanted to do something in healthcare, but I didn’t know what. I felt like I had something to prove to my family – and to myself. But I would read stories of students who had overcome hardship and been successful and think, Whatever. Good for them. They got their happy ending. But that’s never gonna be for me. That was the doubt and negativity I felt as I completed my prerequisites and applied for the Radiologic Technology program.

But long story short, I got in on my first try. When that happened, I decided that I would persevere no matter what, and I took my studies very seriously. In my second semester, I was inducted into our National Honor Society for Imaging. At first, I didn’t even know what that was because young Logan was never part of anything prestigious like that. But it lit a fire under me, and I decided to get the most out of my program that I could. I became president of the honor society and coordinated a lot of volunteer events – food drives, Adopt-a-Highways, shopping for residents of national Healthcare.

All throughout college, there was a running joke between me and my dad. I’d come home with an A, and he’d say, “Not impressed.” I’d make Dean’s List, and he’d say, “Not impressed.” But on the day I graduated and received the President’s Award for my college, he gave me the biggest hug and said, “I am so impressed with you.” It was like, YES! This is what I’ve worked for.

I guess my story is a little bit sappy. But that happy ending? Turns out it was for me after all.

You had a mantra throughout college that helped you stay future-focused. What was it?

What doesn’t challenge you will not change you. I knew I wanted to change. And I knew that it was going to be challenging. But I also knew that it was doable. That’s the thing about technical college. Some people think it’s the easy route. It’s not easy, but it is doable.

And what exactly does a Radiologic Technology student do?

Once you get accepted into the program, it’s five semesters straight through. We started clinicals six weeks in until the very, very end of the program, so we got the best hands-on experience ever. Greenville Tech has an affiliation agreement with Prisma Health, and we did a ton – I mean, a ton! – of clinical rotations. Some programs only have three or four clinical sites, but we probably had somewhere in the twenties. We went everywhere.

I like to tell others that you have to treat clinicals like a two-year job interview! Be yourself, obviously, but also put your best foot forward wherever you go. You’ll make a lot of connections, and whether you end up traveling or staffing somewhere, you’ll have people you can reach out to help with that.

In my final year at Greenville Tech, I also applied for a limited radiographer license so that I could work as a student radiographer. Because of all that experience, when it was time for me to step out into the workforce, I was ready to conquer it!

Which leads us to inquire about Wildly Successful Logan…

Well first, the confidence and capability that I gained at Greenville Tech showed in my registry score. After getting the Radiologic Technology degree, I had to take the American Registry of Radiologic Technologists (ARRT) exam to become nationally certified. It’s like the bar for law students or the NCLEX for nurses. I scored a 92 on my first attempt. That was another huge accomplishment for me.

Now that I’ve graduated, I have an amazing job and an amazing home. I just moved out on my own, and coming home to something that I pay for, that I work for – to know that I have given myself this good life – there’s really nothing better than that.

And all of the experience and connections I gained at Greenville Tech helped me secure an internal travel job with Prisma. With this job, I travel locally – within a 50- or 60-mile radius. It requires me to hit the ground funning and be confident in my ability to do x-rays. Often, I work alone, in high-stress environments, in places without a ton of training.

Sounds very demanding. And yet, you love your work. What do you enjoy most?

So many things!

I like the way it’s a balance of science and art. I mean, we’re not artists, exactly. But we do take pictures of bones, and that’s a really cool way to mix the two disciplines.

I also never want to stop leaning, so I like that there’s room to grow in this field. I don’t want to feel cooped up in my career or like I can only do one thing for the rest of my life. With radiologic technology, I can do CT, MRI, nuclear medicine, mammography. I can work in the ER, outpatient facilities, inpatient facilities, hospitals. And the technology in this field continues to evolve in new and exciting ways.

And I love that, as radiology techs, we’re the eye of medicine. Without radiology, a lot of doctors wouldn’t be able to diagnose their patients. It’s a unique career option for somebody who wants to work in healthcare but is wary of blood or doesn’t want as much of the deep patient care as, say, a nurse. You only spend about 10-15 minutes with your patients, and then you move on to the next exam, so there’s momentum there and always something new. It really is a hidden gem of a career!