Our #WesleyanWednesday feature this week is Brooke (Bangston) Schmerfeld ’04!
Brooke is a Physician Assistant for five different urgent care clinics in the Washington D.C. area. The Leitchfield, Ky. native was a Brown Scholar and was a member of the women’s soccer team, SGA and the dance team while a student at Kentucky Wesleyan.
Learn more about her here!
Q: Tell us about your career?
A: I work part-time as a Physician Assistant within five different Urgent Care Clinics within Northern Virginia (DC suburbs). I can see COVID, lacerations, abscesses, x-rays, STIs, YOU NAME IT all within one 12 hour shift, so my job is never boring and always keeps me on my toes (which I love).
Q: Why did you choose to attend KWC?
A: I got a full tuition scholarship (James Graham Brown Scholar), and I was able to walk onto the KWC soccer team.
Q: What’s your biggest career win so far?
A: My biggest career win so far was stepping up to the plate and working in healthcare within the urgent care setting during the entirety of the COVID pandemic.
Q: What’s your biggest career fail so far? What did you learn from it?
A: My biggest career fail was working in Family Practice—I thought I was a horrible Physician Assistant and that I had chosen the wrong career, but it turns out I was just practicing the wrong area of medicine for me.
Q: How did your KWC experience help prepare you for your life and career?
A: My KWC experience taught me how to multitask at the superhero level as I juggled a demanding course load, played D2 soccer, was a member of the dance team, theatre productions, Student Government Association and kept an off-campus job. It definitely prepared me for the craziness of being a working mother.
Q: Who mentored you as a student, and in what ways?
A: Dr. Rob Kingsolver, Dr. Steven Wilt, Joy Pace were all huge influences to me. Dr. Kingsolver and Dr. Wilt were biology professors that really went out of their way to make me feel comfortable and competent. Joy Pace was the theatre professor and we worked together in so many productions. She felt like family to me at a certain point.
Q: What are other special memories of your years here?
A: I met one of the best friends of my life at KWC, Rachel (Nichols) Barner ’05, and we remain besties to this day. The fun times we shared at KWC are priceless. Getting really involved in theater was also amazing. It really ignited my passion for acting which still burns bright today. I am lucky enough that I get to be an actress on the side as a hobby today.
Q: Why do you recommend KWC to prospective students?
A: KWC was perfect for me because I was not just a number; I felt like and was treated like a unique individual. I was able to really feel a part of my college community.
Q: What advice would you give to our incoming freshman?
A: GET INVOLVED! You will look back and never regret it in the future.
Q: What is a favorite place on out beautiful campus and why?
A: I always enjoyed walking past Minerva on my way to class and observing her many changing colors, décor, font, etc.
Q: Who would you like to enjoy a cup of coffee with and why? What would you ask this person?
A: If it were possible, I would enjoy a cup of coffee with my husband’s maternal grandmother as she passed away before we started dating. I would like to think she would have approved of me as wife-material. 😊
Q: Anything else you would like to share?
A: I actually met my husband during the summer of 2003 between my 3rd and 4th years at KWC. I met him through an internship for undergrads in Baton Rouge. We met and were friends for years before we finally became a couple, but I am forever grateful for that internship, and it was through KWC that I even found out about and applied to the internship.
Thanks, Brooke, for letting us feature you this week for #WesleyanWednesday! We are so glad to hear you have so many great memories of your time here and are SO proud of the work you’ve done in urgent care clinics during such a challenging time!
Want to be our next #WesleyanWednesday feature or know someone who should be? Click here!