Air National Guard Member soars to success
The bustling corridors of Methodist Hospital Stone Oak are packed with doctors, medics, EMS workers, physician’s assistants, occupational therapists, and, of course, nurses.
The Level III Advanced Trauma Center is just north of San Antonio, and it’s within these harried hallways that cardiac nurses like Maria Hagy can be found.
Hagy graduated from Georgia Southern University’s Waters College of Health Professions in May 2024 with a bachelor’s in nursing. Now, she appreciates the time between shifts, reflecting on how she’s making life after college work.
“It's a very challenging career field,” she laughed. “You don't truly learn and get the hang of things until you start working.”
But Hagy is used to learning while on the go. She moved to Richmond Hill from Okinawa, Japan for her senior year of high school in 2018.
“I didn’t know anyone,” she said, quietly. “And no one knew me.”
The plan was college, but scholarship rejection after rejection left her disheartened and lost.
“That’s when I considered the military,” she explained. “My mom always said that one of her kids would join.”
Hagy laughed, saying, “I was always the first to say no, never, I think I'm good. And then, lo and behold…”
She joined the Air National Guard two weeks before graduating high school.
“Fall of 2019 was my first semester of college,” she said, smiling. “It went great. And then for the next year and a half, I was with the Guard.”
Graduation from basic training led to a job as a Radio Frequency Transmission Systems Specialist, where she maintained radio, antenna and satellite communications.
“It was my time in the Guard that really showed me I was capable of doing hard things,” she said. “It taught me how to be more.”
So when she returned to school in May 2021, she was confident she could handle anything college could send her way.
“I thought I knew what I wanted to do,” she explained. “But I realized what I was really looking for was the stability I found with the Guard.”
She found that same stability and purpose at Georgia Southern’s Waters College of Health nursing school.
“And let me just say, nursing school is still the hardest thing I've ever done,” laughed Hagy. “It will always be the hardest thing I've ever done.”
Admittedly, it wasn’t just nursing school. Her family moved away from Georgia, and for the first time, Hagy felt truly alone.
“I learned a lot during that time,” she explained, recounting the added financial responsibilities and sudden independence. “I felt isolated and alone, but it was during this time that I became self-reliant, and I developed a backup plan for my backup plan. You just never know what could happen.”
She found purpose in the Guard. And she found her college dream at Georgia Southern.
“During that time, I felt like I’ve healed,” Hagy explains. “Through the different errors I've experienced, I've grown and matured in ways that I'm grateful for, no matter how unfair it felt at the time.”
She’s looking forward to what the future has in store for her.
“Fulfillment,” she explained. “I think finding fulfillment in whatever path I choose to follow. And I’m still figuring that out, even in my current profession. I just take it one day at a time and remember to be grateful for what I have now.”
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