GRANITEVILLE — Her students’ reasons to pursue a nursing degree inspired Buffy Halter so much that she wanted to do something to not only honor the class of 2024 but to benefit someone else as well.
“I have this form I have the students fill out. I ask ‘tell me why you want to be a nurse’ or anything they want me to know about them. It’s an ‘all about me’ paper,” said Halter, who was touched by their reasons for pursuing their degree.
On Aug. 15, Halter, who directs Aiken Technical College’s simulation lab and teaches courses such as pharmacology, cut her thick, dark hair to donate it to Locks of Love.
One of Halter’s students had just lost her mother to cancer, another had a child with extreme special needs, and another had buried her nine-and-a-half-year-old daughter three months before she started her first class.
“Whenever I looked at another sheet, there was another hero story,” she said.
Joining Halter in the simulation lab for the hair cutting ceremony were several of her students from the Class of 2024. The LPNs she taught had a 100% pass rate on their NCLEX licensure exam while the RNs are still testing, she said.
“I’m awed by them,” she said. “Every class is special, but this one is particularly special with just the things they overcame to get here.”
Cutting and styling her hair was another member of her class Kristin Seklecki, who worked as a hairdresser for about 10 years before becoming a nurse. She now works in the Aiken Regional Medical Center’s emergency department.
“This sweet angel of a human being is the reason I passed,” said Seklecki.
Halter went the extra mile in helping her learn her material, going over things after class.
When she heard about what Halter wanted to do, Seklecki was all in.
Amy Prosser was among those watching Seklecki snip Halter’s four ponytails and style her hair.
“It’s super special to be able to be here for this and for somebody to do something in honor of the class,” said Prosser, who started at Aiken Tech in August 2021 after her nine-and-a-half-year-old daughter Carly died in May 2021. Carly had been born with several health issues. Prosser had worked as an LPN before Carly was born and quit her job to provide her care.
That inspired Prosser’s eldest daughter, Ansley, to also go into nursing. She attended Anderson University. Although they attended different colleges, mother and daughter were pinned in the same week and graduated in the same week.
Now, Amy Prosser works in the emergency department at Piedmont Augusta.
On Monday, Halter will greet the next class of incoming nursing students.
Charmain Z. Brackett, the publisher of Augusta Good News and Inspiring: Women of Augusta, has covered Augusta’s news for more than 35 years and is a Georgia Press Association award winner. Reach her at charmain@augustagoodnews.com. Sign up for the newsletter here.
