Turning Pain into Purpose, Ashley Jessup Embraces Nursing at OFTC
OFTC –Many enter the nursing profession because they want to make a difference. Some have watched nurses tend to others, and others know first-hand the kind of difference a nurse can make.
Ashley Jessup grew up with a less-than-ideal home life. Her parents had limited education; one went to prison and the other remarried an alcoholic which led to years of unimaginable abuse.
“By the time I was in the second grade, I’d memorized the police officer’s shifts and knew when to call for help and when it would be a waste of time,” Jessup shared.
Her unstable environment and variety of stressors led to chronic illnesses which would ultimately lead to her desire to work as a nurse for an organization that tailors to treating children who are victims of trauma and abuse.
“I want to be the voice that I didn’t have as a child,” she shared.
Keeping Her Dream Alive
As an adult, Jessup found herself in a situation she never wanted to be – divorced and a stay-at-home mom with only a High School Equivalency Diploma.
“I was a long way from that dream,” Jessup shared. “Depression and anxiety had me paralyzed… but it was that moment that I decided to get myself up and chase the dream I once had.”
She enrolled in Oconee Fall Line Technical College (OFTC) and is currently taking the required core classes to compete for a spot in the college’s Associate of Science in Nursing (ASN) degree program.
Jessup found OFTC to be a supportive and caring environment, something vastly different than her experiences at other colleges in the past.
“When I first started taking classes, I was simply surviving, going through the motions,” Jessup said. “But as the weeks turned into months, a spark of hope began to flicker inside of me. Finally, I found my reason to fight and overcame my own limiting beliefs.”
Jessup says she’s felt “seen and heard” as a student at OFTC. “The people here have been attentive to my individual needs, and this has been so helpful in keeping me on track to reach my goals.”
Unexpected Opposition
Life had really turned around for Jessup and everything “seemed perfect.”
She had plans to marry a wonderful man soon, had earned a nomination for OFTC’s 2025 Georgia Occupational Award of Leadership (GOAL), and found purpose in the tasks of everyday life.
“Life was beautiful, and my future seemed bright,” she said. “I could finally breathe after years of chaos.”
But then, the unimaginable happened. Her fiancé, John, was involved in a tree accident and was in the hospital in critical condition. He passed away the morning Jessup was supposed to present her GOAL speech to a panel of judges from the community.
“In an instant, every hope, dream, and future we planned together was stripped from me,” Jessup shared.
Hope Restored
Despite struggling with difficult things that are hard to understand, Jessup is determined to persevere, because that’s what fighters do.
“Life is fragile. Life is wonderful. Life is terrible. But I choose to embrace each moment and celebrate the gift of living every day as the gift it truly is,” Jessup added. “I want to focus on breathing life into others, just as John breathed life into me.”
So, she presses on toward her goal of becoming a Mental Health Practitioner to help those who need someone to be their voice.
“I would like to develop procedures and protocols tailored to children in abusive home environments and with parents that struggle with addiction.”
And while she still struggles with reality at times, she knows she’s not alone; she has her family at OFTC.
“I have learned the importance of having a strong support system,” she said. “In the past, before enrolling at OFTC, I tried doing things alone without the help of others. Having the support of my instructors and others employed at the college has helped me understand the importance of true connection.”
“A cord with multiple strings braided together is much stronger than one string alone.”
Jessup will finish her core classes and compete for a spot in the college’s fall ASN program cohort this summer.
To learn more about OFTC’s Nursing programs or the other 130+ programs of study available, visit the college’s website, OFTC.edu.
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OFTC is a unit of the Technical College System of Georgia.
