Pursuing a dream
PEC scholarship helps send working mom back to school
Pursuing an education in the medical field is no easy task, and it gets even harder when you’re a working mother of three. That’s the challenge set forth for Marble Falls native Taylor Clark, who received a $1,000 scholarship as part of PEC’s annual scholarship program.
When Clark was young, her grandmother passed away due to a medical complication. After that, she knew she wanted to help other families with the best medical care she could provide.
Her journey began at Blinn College in College Station, where she started working toward a radiology degree but wasn’t able to complete it before her family moved to Houston.
Several years later, she and her family moved back home to Marble Falls, and she decided she wasn’t going to put off a career any longer. She got a job as a call center rep at Baylor Scott and White. The job afforded her an opportunity to pursue becoming a certified lab technician. It wasn’t easy, as she was pregnant with her first child while in the program.
“I got a call while on maternity leave and was asked if I wanted a job in the lab, and I said absolutely,” she recalled.
Today, Clark’s son is five years old and in kindergarten, and her family has grown, adding three-year-old twin daughters. Despite working 40 hours a week and raising her children, Clark decided to make a run for her medical laboratory technician (MLT) certification at Delmar College.
“I had reached as high as I could go in my current role, and I wanted to start furthering my career in the industry,” she said. “The MLT certification will allow me to perform clinical lab work.”
Though challenging, it has also been rewarding to see how much of an inspiration she’s become to her kids.
“The kids say, ‘we’re going to go to school like mom,’” she said. “They’re still little, so they don’t fully understand what it means for me to go back to school, but they’re definitely excited. And one of the reasons I am going back to school is to be a role model for them.”
Her pursuit for the MLT was made a little easier when she was awarded the $1,000 PEC scholarship.
“I was looking for anything that would help me go back to school, and a lot of the programs here are geared toward high school seniors,” she said.
The scholarship helped her pay for the first portion of the 21-month program, and she has already signed up for all of her classes this fall.
“Thank you, PEC, for the opportunity,” she said. “It is fantastic for the moms and dads who want to go back to school and need that extra help. I really appreciate them even having an application for that.”
PEC awarded $100,000 in scholarships to 85 students in 2023. These were funded by unclaimed property funds returned to PEC from the state. Learn more at pec.coop/scholarships.