Student Experience: Julia Harryman, M.Ed., ARRT(R)(M)

“I left my retail job after my first son was born to become a stay-at-home mom. Not having a college degree, I realized that if something happened to my husband, I would be responsible for raising this baby without the means to do so. Fortunately, I had a supportive husband who made it easy for me to go back to school full time. 

“I first started taking courses for the nursing program but realized quickly that nursing wasn’t for me. I still wanted something in the medical field, something hands-on and technical, and I realized that radiology seemed to fit exactly what I wanted to do. 

“My priority was still to be a full-time mom, but the medical field is great in that it allows a mom the means to make a good income, feel good about yourself and still be at home with your kids several days a week. After I graduated, we had our second son, and I worked night and weekend shifts so I could still be with him most of the time. 

“One of the best things about this program, in my opinion, is that it’s a JCERT-accredited program — the highest level of certification and quality for a program that teaches radiologic sciences. That says a lot about the program, and it really meant something to me. It was also important to me to have an associate degree to build on, so that I not only got the training but an education that I could go further with — which I’m now doing.”

Julia Harryman received her associate degree in Radiologic Sciences in 1999 and holds a bachelor's degree in radiologic science from Midwestern State University in Wichita Falls and a master's degree in education from Lamar University in Beaumont. She taught in El Centro's Radiological Sciences positioning lab as an adjunct clinical instructor for two years before assuming a full-time faculty position in fall 2007.

In 2009, Julia moved into the position of associate dean of the Allied Health Programs at El Centro. Today, Julia works full time for her husband Jim at Kinetic Technology group and teaches as a faculty member for the Radiologic Sciences program. She was a staff technologist at Doctors Hospital in Dallas for nine years before she began teaching.

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