Michelle Roehrich, Arcadia, a member of the Class of 2018 at Ivy Tech Community College Kokomo, is one of four students nationally elected to serve as student representative to the Association of Surgical Technologists Student Association. ASTSA is the student arm of the Association of Surgical Technologists, the oldest and most widely recognized professional organization for the field representing more than 80,000 surgical technologists.
Roehrich
The student representatives were elected by the more than 275 surgical technology students attending the ASTSA Forum, part of the AST national convention held recently in Orlando, Fla. Also elected were Kathryn Santiago, a recent Surgical Technology graduate of Ivy Tech’s Indianapolis Campus; Bailey Galan of Tennessee College of Applied Technology in Crossville, Tenn.; and Joshua Lumpkin of Miller-Motte Technical College in Chattanooga, Tenn. They represent more than 7,300 student members across the country.
“The convention offered opportunities for career development, networking, and getting to know surgical technology students from around the country,” Roehrich said. “For me, being a member of my professional organization is important because it gives me a voice as a student. I can offer my opinion and be heard. I can also learn from the thousands of other certified surgical technologists who have been doing this for years.”
Organizing and running the ASTSA Forum the following year is the primary responsibility of the representatives, who will meet regularly throughout the year to plan the event which will be part of the 50th annual AST national convention set for June 2019 in Maryland. Their registration, travel and hotel costs for the conference are covered by the AST to ensure they can attend.
“Being a representative is a great career-building experience for students,” said Wanda Folsom, AST staff liaison. “They are our profession’s future leaders!”
In May, Roehrich served as student speaker, representing Ivy Tech’s Kokomo Service Area Class of 2018 at the annual commencement ceremony. She will officially earn her Associate of Applied Science in Surgical Technology degree with honors (cum laude) at the end of July when she completes the final clinical rotation in the program.
Roehrich is cited as an example of perseverance and achievement. Over the last 10 years, she had a couple of false starts in higher education, but she found the right program for her future at Ivy Tech. Her academic accomplishments have been recognized with membership in Phi Theta Kappa, the international academic honor society for community college students, and she was named the Dean’s Award winner as the outstanding 2018 graduate in the Surgical Technology program. She has served as president of the Surgical Technology Club on campus.
Also a wife and mother of five children ranging in age from 3 to 16, Roehrich said her husband, Michael Roehrich, is her biggest supporter and “keeps the house running while I’m studying, at school, doing clinicals.” Her children serve as inspirations for her perseverance, she said, including the eldest daughter, a high school sophomore looking forward to her own future. “I want her to know things can change, plans can change. Life may not go the way you thought it would … but you can still finish,” Roehrich said.
Finishing her associate degree represents the jump of just the first hurdle toward an ambitious life goal. Roehrich has just been hired as a surgical technologist at two centers – fulltime at the IU Saxony Surgery Center in Fishers and part-time at The Gillian Institute, a plastic surgery center in Indianapolis – which will both provide experience and help fund her full-time work on a bachelor’s degree at Indiana University Kokomo that begins in August.
And when that’s done, Roehrich says, the next goal will be to attend Indiana University School of Medicine in Indianapolis. Her ultimate achievement: To become the skilled surgeon in the operating room, leading the team in improving the health of her patients.
For information about Ivy Tech Kokomo’s Surgical Technology program, contact program chair Jia Hardimon-Eddington at jhardimon@ivytech.edu or call her at 765-252-5575.