Perimeter Graduate D’Erick Lee ‘Hooked’ on Nursing, Weighing Job Offers

CLARKSTON, Ga. — When Perimeter College nursing student D’Erick Lee walks across the Georgia State University Convocation Center stage in December, he’ll have his inspiration cheering him on: fellow nursing grad and fiancée Shamekia Harris (A.S.N. ’22).

The couple has been dating since meeting in 10^th grade at Stone Mountain High School. Their educational journey continued when they were both accepted into the State Farm Scholars program on the Decatur Campus of Georgia State’s Perimeter College.

It was Harris’ pursuit of nursing at Perimeter that helped spur Lee’s curiosity about the field.

“I did some research before applying and talking to people I knew, including my fiancée and her friends who were nurses, and they really enjoyed what they did,” Lee said. “I was coming into the program blind, but I decided to take a chance. Now I’m hooked on it and know this is what I want to do. From cardiac care to surgery to bone marrow transplants, I learn something new every day.”

Georgia State’s Student Success programs helped supply a solid foundation for his future career path, he said, and his fiancée and fellow nursing students encouraged him to keep the end goal in sight when the going got tough. He is already weighing job offers in a field that, two years ago, wasn’t on his mind.

“Everything about the State Farm Program and Perimeter Academy was fantastic,” he said. “Coming straight out of high school, I was able to get a lot of extra tutoring for my classes, and there were programs about financial literacy and special speakers and practical resources for us. They even gave everyone in the program a laptop, and I still use it today. It helped get me acclimated to college.”

Lee will be among 36 Perimeter nursing students who will be pinned Tuesday, Dec. 12, at Cole Auditorium on the Clarkston Campus during the traditional ceremony that marks the completion of the program. He plans to take the National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX) in January. Perimeter nursing students currently have a 98.8 percent pass rate on the exam.

“I’m in a study group with some of my classmates, and everyone is so excited about graduating, and we’re all talking to each other about our upcoming (job) interviews. Reality has started to hit us,” Lee said. “And when the opportunities for interviews are coming through, everyone is so happy for each other. We are excited to see the end in sight.”

Story by Rebecca Rakoczy

Photo by Bill Roa