Officer to keep pledge to mom:
Among 1,549 students to get degrees Sunday at USA is John
McCarter,
a Mobile police corporal who'll make his mother's deathbed
wish come true
By J. PEPPER BRYARS, Staff Reporter, Mobile Register, Jun. 11, 1998.
John McCarter has spent the past 19 years protecting
people
from all sorts of crime, from running down jailbirds to arresting
drug
dealers. He has even devoted a few years as co-pastor of
Crichton Baptist
Church.
Now, the Mobile Police Department corporal
is preparing to
add another qualification to his long resume of community service
a bachelor's degree in nursing, specializing in neonatal intensive
care.
McCarter, 44, will graduate from the University
of South Alabama
on Sunday, fulfilling his mother's dying wish that he finish the
college education he began way back in 1973.
The ceremony begins at 2 p.m. in the Mobile
Civic Center Arena. David Eisenhower, historian and grandson
of President and Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower, will give the
commencement address.
McCarter started college when he was 19, majoring
in marine
biology at USA, and then left to study religion and English
at Mobile
College. But it was while working as a maintenance man at
USA Medical
Center that he discovered his interest in nursing.
But back in the 70s, it wasn't socially acceptable
to be a
male nurse,'' McCarter said. So I pursued my second interest,
which was law enforcement.''
I figured I could still help people; and if
I was a first responder,
I may even help save someone's life.''
He left school and joined the Prichard Police
Department in
1978, and then the Mobile Police Department in 1983. After a few
years, he was married with three children. The possibility of a
college degree slipped further away.
Then tragedy struck.
My mother was diagnosed with breast cancer
and entered the
hospital for the last time in 1992,'' McCarter explained. She
said Promise me you'll finish your education,' and I did.''
His mother's passing built a fire underneath
McCarter, and
he began taking classes the next year at Faulkner State Community
College. After completing a few core requirements, he transferred
in 1994 to study nursing at USA.
The nursing curriculum is particularly difficult
because
students must spend many hours outside of class training
at local
hospitals, and it's hard for older students with family and
career
obligations to find time, explained Patricia Gropp, a nursing
instructor at USA.
Regardless, she said many older students are
in her classes. You know
they are dedicated to getting the degree because it's very hard,'' Gropp said.
McCarter wasn't only dedicated; along the way,
he picked up
a few honors: the Spirit of Nursing Award, given to students who
exemplify the essence of nursing and the outstanding attributes
of a nurse, and induction into Sigma Theta Tau, the national nursing
honor society.
Between his responsibilities as a husband,
father, police
officer and student, McCarter said getting five hours of
sleep
a night was a blessing.
It has definitely taken away from my family,''
he said. I
would go to school all day and work most of the night.''
McCarter would spend his two off-days training
at USA Medical
Center, and he said he could not have completed the degree
if it had
not for the cooperation of those in the Police Department.
Capt. Phillip Garrett, McCarter's boss, said
having educated
officers helps the department.
We encourage everyone to go back to school
and work with their
schedules so they can do it,'' said Garrett, who also completed
his college degree while on the force. His knowledge of medicine
is certainly to our benefit.''
Aside from being a police officer, McCarter
now works part-time
at USA Children's and Women's Hospital as a neonatal intensive-care
nurse, where he takes care of premature and very sick babies.
Although it can be a very sad profession at
times, McCarter said
it has more rewards.
For every one infant that doesn't make it,
nine will,'' he
said. I've always loved children, and Alabama has a terrible
infant mortality rate, especially in rural areas.''
McCarter said he plans to continue his education
by earning
a family practitioner's degree. He then hopes to open a clinic
in
a rural area because, he said, that's where I'm needed the
most.''
FYI
What: Univ. of South Alabama commencement
When: 2 p.m., Sunday, June 14
Where: Mobile Civic Center Arena
Speaker : David Eisenhower, historian and grandson
of President and Gen.
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Graduates: 1,549 are to receive degrees
Info: 460-6251
MIKE KITRELL /Staff Photographer Nursing
graduate-to-be John McCarter
feeds newborn baby Katelyn Rose Connell on Monday in the neonatal intensive
care ward at the University of South Alabama Children's and Women's Hospital.
McCarter spent 19 years as a Mobile-area police officer and recently completed
studies at USA's College of Nursing. Katelyn, born June 6, is the
daughter of Sherron and Brian Connell of Mobile.
This article reproduced with special permission
from the Mobile Register.
