Clifford I. Argall Scholarship

Ashley Nicole King

Mt. Juliet, TN

   When I started college I was 18 and I had no direction. I only went because it was expected of me. I had that, “I’m an adult” mentality and knew what I was going to do with my life. I ended up skipping my classes, barely passing, or completely failing them. Eventually I just quit altogether.

    I moved to Florida on my own shortly after that. I was a store manager at Subway. I was miserable. I thought to myself, “What now? I can’t do this forever”. So I enrolled back into school with becoming a nurse in mind. I went part-time at night after I finished work. I had to retake a lot of courses because my GPA suffered. My work, school, and personal life became unbalanced and I received a D in my biology class. My advisor had told me I wouldn’t get into nursing school, and I felt defeated. I decided not to give up on nursing, so I took a CNA course. I quit Subway when I was offered a job as a CNA. 

I worked with a quadriplegic my age and she always asked why I wanted to be a nurse since her life was surrounded by medical help. I couldn’t really answer that. I picked back up in school to continue nursing. I took microbiology and I loved it. I was nervous because I thought I would do terrible, but I passed with flying colors. This is when I started thinking, “why nursing”?

   I moved back to Tennessee with the help of my family so I could finish school. I started applying to different nursing schools and I came across Fortis and read about their MLT program. I heard never heard about this field before. It piqued my interest so I met with the program director and the more she told me about it, the more I had a feeling the MLT program was for me, not nursing. 

   There is so much behind the scenes things you can do as an MLT. Each subject we have learned during class was exciting. It’s a giant puzzle. Everything the MLT does is so important for patient care. Doctors use what we do to determine the best treatment for each patient, and I love knowing I get to aid with that. It challenges you every day and I am up for that challenge. I truly believe this is the field I was born for.

The Tennessee Association of Blood Banks (TABB) is dedicated to the advancement of professionals in Transfusion Medicine. One of the prime activities of the TABB is the granting of scholarships for students in a program leading to a degree with a major in medical technology (MT) or students seeking a specialist in blood banking (SBB) certificate. 

The application deadline is February 28th. The applications will be forwarded to the education coordinator. The education coordinator will confirm the candidates are currently enrolled in an approved school. The board will review and select the scholarship recipients by March 7th. The scholarship recipients will be invited to attend the Spring Meeting. 

A scholarship in the amount of $1000 will be given for either MT, SBB or MLT. 

• Applicants must be United States citizens or permanent residents of the United States.
• Applicants must be accepted into or enrolled in an approved Specialist in Blood Bank (SBB), Medical Technologist (MT), or Medical Laboratory Technician (MLT) Program.
• Applicants cannot complete their education before the scholarship is awarded.

Click APPLY below and download

"Form--TABB Clifford Argall Scholarship Application"

Please note completed application and required documentation can be submitted by email.

Good Luck!!!