For Kayla Mowrey, graduating from Orangeburg-Calhoun Technical College is just the beginning.

The honor student received her degree in paralegal studies Thursday night during OCtech’s commencement ceremonies at South Carolina State University’s Smith-Hammond-Middleton Memorial Center.

She just turned 19 in March and was the youngest OCtech graduate this spring.

“It was a lot of work,” Mowrey said.

According to her, there is still more work to be done.

She is training to be an emergency medical technician and plans to take criminal justice classes at the University of South Carolina. She plans to do that while working as a paralegal.

Mowrey says the juggling act is nothing new.

She finished the paralegal program in five semesters and worked three jobs in the process. In addition, she serves as a volunteer firefighter with the Cameron Fire Department.

“No sleep” is how Mowrey said she balances her impossible schedule.

Thursday evening, Mowrey joined her fellow graduates in listening to another young person with a busy itinerary, state Rep. Bakari Sellers, D-Denmark.



“What you have done today is not a small step in your life. What you have done today is only the beginning,” Sellers said.

The 24-year-old Denmark Democrat challenged the graduates to take ownership of their environment.

He noted today’s world is chaotic. “It needs your help,” he said.

Sellers said a culture of low expectations has been created in America and asked the graduates to assist him in changing that culture.

He shared the story of how he rose to become the youngest state lawmaker in the nation as an example.

After returning home to Denmark from college, Sellers noticed his community was worse off than when he left it.

Sellers said looked at himself in the mirror and thought, “If not now, when? If not me, then who?”

He told his parents about his plan to run for a seat in the General Assembly. His mother, Gwendolyn, declared her immediate support. Sellers’ father, Voorhees College President Dr. Cleveland Sellers, joked he would consider voting for him.

To get elected, Sellers said he knocked on 2,600 doors and spoke at 55 churches in his district.

That effort led to his victory over longtime state Rep. Thomas Rhoad in 2006.

“That was my beginning,” he said.

The start of nursing graduate Brittany Jeffcoat’s beginning came at the hospital during the birth of her first child in 2003.

“The nurses took care of me there. ... That meant a lot to me,” Jeffcoat said.

Seeing the nurturing nature of nurses planted the seed for Jeffcoat’s future career. It caused her to consider becoming a nurse.

Two years later, her grandfather’s health was failing and it was clear his final days were drawing near.

Nurses played an integral role in helping her family cope with the death.

“That had a big impact on my decision to apply to OCtech,” she said.

T&D Staff Writer Lee Tant can be reached at ltant@timesanddemocrat.com or by phone at 803-534-1060. Discuss this and other stories online at TheTandD.com.

You must be logged in to comment.