After six years in the military and a short side gig in business, Stephen Magee still hadn’t found work that fulfilled his deep desire to serve others. Then one evening, he clicked on Central Carolina’s website and discovered the nursing program – and something clicked in him too. He enrolled on the spot and hasn’t looked back since!

What made you decide to join the military?

When I was in high school, I was one of those kids who didn’t know what they wanted to do after graduation. In my junior and senior years, I’d worked as an ocean lifeguard, and I loved the adrenaline. That’s what led me to the military.

I enlisted in the Air Force as a pararescue candidate. That job is essentially combat search-and-rescue, and it requires paramedic certification, so I was learning a lot of medicine too. But it’s arguably one of the hardest military trainings out there, and after a couple of weeks, I didn’t make the cut. I spent the rest of my time in the military as an F-16 fighter jet mechanic.

Maybe that high school job as a lifeguard was leading you in the right direction – just not the one you expected!

That’s a good way to put it. Earlier in high school, I’d worked in landscaping, but I knew that wasn’t what I wanted to do. Being an ocean lifeguard sounded pretty cool, though! I liked the idea of rescuing people, and since I already enjoyed sports, lifeguarding seemed like a natural fit.

Training was intense – running a quarter of a mile on the beach, swimming a quarter of a mile, then doing it all over again. In between, we had “Lifeguarding 101” – things like: What do you do if there’s a lost kid on the beach? What if multiple swimmers are in distress? How do you care for common injuries that occur on the beach?

That was really where my interest in medicine started. I took a First Responder certification course where we learned how to put people on a backboard, sling an arm after a dislocation, and use oxygen if someone is struggling to breathe after a near-drowning incident.

And of course, we learned all the lifeguarding-specific skills, like how to use a paddleboard, swim through the waves, and rescue somebody in the water.

Was there a particular rescue that really stood out to you?

Yes. A rock jetty extended straight out in front of our beach. Boats and other watercraft had to stay past that point.

One day, a guy and his two sons came around the rocks and inside our boundary on a jet ski. They got off and into the water, but despite my whistling and arm signals, they didn’t move to get back on or out of the area. So I swam out to see what was going on.

When I reached them, I could see that they were paralyzed by fear. The dad was not strong enough to pull himself back onto the jet ski, the tide was coming in around the rocks, and the current was very turbulent. I managed to grab the jet ski, push it back into the inlet so they wouldn’t hit the rocks, and help them get back on so that they could return to the marina.

That was the first time I realized something important: I was able to solve the problem because I was able to handle the stress. I didn’t know it then, but that ability would serve me well in the military and – now – as a nurse.

I imagine that, in nursing, that skill comes in handy during high-adrenaline emergencies – like a code blue – but also in the day-to-day moments that require emotional steadiness under pressure. Would you agree?

Absolutely. Let me give you an example.

During my preceptorship in the ICU, we had a patient who was not doing well. He was on a ventilator, so he couldn’t talk, and being unable to communicate is very frustrating for patients. He was agitated, but I worked with him the entire day to try to understand and meet his needs.

Despite our efforts, his prognosis was not good. His heart was failing, he was bed-bound, and he needed dialysis three days a week.

His loved ones wanted to take him home so that he could be more comfortable in his final days. When the nurse told him he’d be leaving the hospital, he smiled really big and tried to speak. His family helped us understand what he was trying to say – that he was grateful for our care and that I was going to be a great nurse.

He passed away two days later.

Being there to help him transition from agitation to peace was deeply meaningful to me. I earned medals and accolades in the military, but what I want to accomplish now is something of eternal value. If I can be a difference maker or a change agent in somebody’s worst days – or last days – then that’s what I’m most proud of.

That’s such a beautiful, compassionate way to look at the impact of your work. How has your education at Central Carolina contributed to your sense of fulfillment?

Central Carolina has been the catalyst for me to make a better life for myself and my family – to earn a good living doing something I love.

The college’s rigorous nursing program is known for producing great nurses and has an excellent reputation among healthcare providers, which helped me land a job with Neuro ICU at Prisma Health – Richland immediately after graduation. And because I went to a technical college, I’ll be able to work as a nurse while pursuing my bachelor’s degree.

So to answer your question… For me, Central Carolina is the single greatest determinant of how my life has gotten better since leaving the military. It’s been the difference between being unfulfilled and knowing what I want to do with the rest of my life.