1711 East Church Street, Union City, Tennessee 38261, United States
The Lord at Work
Drug Court Graduation
We couldn’t be more proud of Randy’s accomplishment in completing Recovery Court. He has been diligent in his commitment to stay clean. He has attended Celebrate Recovery faithfully in two locations and has relied on his sponsors and accountability partners to advise him when he asks. He is a wonderful example of how someone who loves Jesus and makes necessary changes can completely turn their life around!
Congratulations, Randy!! We love you!!
The Lord at Work
DESPITE OBSTACLES, UC WOMAN WORKS TO OVERCOME THEM
Life has never been easy for Leslie Wiles of Union City, but she has never allowed that to slow her down. Although she is almost deaf, nearly blind and not in the best health, she fully embraces a "rise above" attitude and is committed to improving her life and the lives of others.
That is what led her to pursue the medical coding and billing with Ultimate Medical Academy (UMA) in Tampa, FL. Ms. Wiles said she had thought about returning to school as a non-traditional student, it was her father that gave her the final push she needed to take action.
According to Ms. Wiles her relationship with her parents had always been minimal, if nonexistent. Thankfully, she and her father were able to mend their differences before he passed away in November 2013. Before he passed, she said he had asked her to return to school and finish her education.
Ms. Wiles made that promise and began the difficult task of finding an accredited school that offered an online medical billing program. She said she had always heard horrible stories about online scam schools that cheat aspiring students out of their money and leaving students with "junk" degrees and certificates. Oddly enough, she found UMA on the social media platform Facebook. As she had done many times before, Ms. Wiles approached the online school with a heavy dose of skepticism. She was impressed but still extremely cautious. She soon learned the school is accredited by the Accrediting Bureau of Health Education Schools, is a non-profit healthcare educational institution, which offered an initial five-week program for students to become acclimated to online schooling and decide whether UMA was a proper fit.
Ms. Wiles decided to give the institution a try in October 2020. There was one last obstacle to overcome - she did not have a computer. Embracing her "rise above" mentality, she chose to complete the initial five-week program on a Kindle electronic reader and use the public computers at the Obion County Public Library.
According to library director Carolina Conner, Ms. Wiles is a regular visitor to the library, even before beginning her educational program. "She is an avid library user and visited our library for the first time in 2017, when she moved to the area," Mrs. Conner said.
Ms. Wiles worked hard to complete the initial program , either catching a ride or walking to the library, as she has no car of her own. Her dedication to her studies paid off when she received a 4.0, earning the honor of being placed on the Dean's List.
Shortly after, Ms. Wiles received a strange phone call. One of her advisors called and told her to keep her eyes open for a package from the school, cryptically saying, "Enjoy it. You deserve it." "It" was a laptop computer provided by the school, making it so much easier to complete her classwork. Ms. Wiles still uses the library, often loading her laptop up with her books and class materials to carry with her to the library. She said she is on track to graduate in June 2022 and. hopes to find a job locally with the help of the UMA career consultation center.
Ms. Wiles knows she would have never been able to get as far as she has withoutthe library. "Two things have gotten me through this program, the grace of God and the Obion County Public Library. The library is my safe haven," she said.
Copied from The Messenger Tuesday 7/6/2022. Written by Staff Reporter Megan Dame, she may be contacted by email at megan@ucmessenger.com.
