MCC offers new beginnings for husband-and-wife grads
MCC offers new beginnings for husband-and-wife grads
During last spring’s lockdown from the pandemic, Meridian Community College graduates and husband-and-wife duo Steven and Tricia Lacy discovered a new hobby.
“We started getting into woodworking during the pandemic and found out we had a knack for it,” Steven said. “We really enjoy it; me probably a little more than her.”
Working together, they created dough bowls, charcuterie boards, serving trays, cutting boards, among other things.
“I would see things on Pinterest and think, ‘We can do that.’ So, one day we did,” Tricia said. “It was something that allowed us to escape from all the issues happening around us, a stress reliever of sorts. It is so satisfying to make something with your own hands.”
Working together is something the couple has done for nearly 30 years since their days of playing trumpet together in the Meridian High School Marching Band.
Married since 1997, Tricia gave her full support when Steven came to a point where he wanted to go in a new career direction. At the time working as operations manager for Brown Bottling Company, Steven enrolled in MCC’s Radiologic Technology Program in 2009.
“I switched careers because I needed something more fulfilling and gratifying,” said Steven, who currently serves as director of Noxubee General Hospital’s Radiology Department. “I’m a ‘people person’ by nature, and the healthcare field really lets me interact with people and help them. I try to make people smile or laugh while I’m with them in an effort to make them feel more comfortable or to get their minds off their pain or health concerns, even if it is only for a moment.”
Steven first attended MCC after graduating from Meridian High in 1990. He was a member of the College Activities Board, served as an MCC Ambassador and helped organize intramural sporting events. After one year, he transferred to the University of Alabama, where he graduated in 1994 with a bachelor’s degree in Health Care Management. He worked for the next decade before ending up at Brown Bottling in 2005.
When he started in the Radiologic Technology Program, Steven shifted his work schedule from daytime to mostly nights to accommodate his classes and clinicals.
“I would usually go to Brown Bottling plant around 4 or 4:30 a.m., get things done there that had to be done before the sun came up,” he recalled. “I would then go to class or clinical during the day, go home, change clothes, and go back to work till 11 p.m. or so.”
Steven studied whenever he could find time, whether during downtime from class or clinicals, in the car before class, or when he got home from work.
“I generally got between 3 and 4 hours of sleep each night,” he remembered. “I worked 50-plus hours a week at Brown Bottling and often spent several hours there on Saturday and Sunday to catch up and fulfill my responsibilities.”
After graduating from the College’s Radiologic Technology Program in 2011, he began working as a PRN tech at Noxubee General while still employed at Brown Bottling. In January 2012, he left the beverage company to become a radiologic technologist at Stennis Hospital in DeKalb, which is part of Rush Health Systems. He transferred to Rush Hospital’s Emergency Department in late 2013 as a CT tech.
“My wife was and is my biggest fan and supporter,” Steven said. “When I was working full time and going to school full time, it made things harder on her in many ways. We had a nine-year-old son and a four-year-old daughter at the time, which meant she had to do everything for both of them during that time. She was and is my rock. There is no way I could have done it without her love and support.”
In October 2017, he accepted his current position at Noxubee General. He also serves as a clinical preceptor for MCC Radiologic Technology students completing their clinicals at the hospital.
With Steven embarking on his new career in healthcare, the couple worked together, again, for Tricia to follow her new dream.
A 1991 Meridian High graduate, Tricia earned her associate degree from MCC in 1993 and transferred to the University of Southern Mississippi, receiving a bachelor’s degree in psychology in December 1994.
After graduating from USM, Tricia went to work at Weems Community Mental Health Center as a case manager. Then in 1998, she began working in the business office of Meridian Medical Associates.
“I moved around at MMA and ended up in cardiology,” she said. “I trained on the job to learn how to perform cardiac ultrasounds and as a med tech for the treadmill department. I really loved it.”
With Steven out of school and wanting a more fulfilling career herself, Tricia researched and discovered MCC offered a night and weekend Associate Degree Nursing Program that would allow her to continue her full-time job at MMA while obtaining her associate degree in nursing.
“I knew I wanted to do something more than what I was doing,” she said. “Since I was in the medical field and worked closely with some wonderful nurses, it just made sense to check out this option. With the night and weekend program, I believe God was providing a way for me to pursue my goal.”
Tricia graduated from MCC’s ADN program in 2015, having landed on the President’s List the entire two years. She was recognized as one of MCC’s Circle of Excellence honorees at graduation. She was a member of Phi Theta Kappa national honor society and Alpha Delta Nu nursing honor society.
“I was very driven to finish the program and to finish it well. Failure was not an option,” she said. “I felt pressure to succeed not only for myself but also for everyone who was affected by my being in school. I wanted to make them proud.”
After receiving her nursing degree, Tricia continued to work at MMA as a nurse in the treadmill department until 2016. Since then, she has worked as a clinical nurse at the Cardiovascular Institute of the South.
Son Tyler Lacy continued the family tradition and graduated from MCC in spring 2020 with an associate in arts degree in the University Transfer Program. He served as vice president of the Mississippi/Louisiana Region for Phi Theta Kappa and was a member of The Phil Hardin Foundation Honors College at Meridian Community College. He is now a junior at the University of Alabama, majoring in mechanical engineering.
Daughter Sara Lacy is a freshman at Northeast Lauderdale High School, where she is a member of the Lady Trojans softball team.
Tricia said though it was challenging to balance family, work and school, she has no regrets about pursuing her dream.
“I could not have done it without God, my husband and my parents, who helped us with the kids when we needed them, which was sometimes very often,” she said. “It was hard work, and I am proud of what I accomplished, but it was really a group effort. So, I am proud of my family that pulled together and did what we had to do to get it all done while Steven was in school and then when it was my turn.”