Johnston said she has no re-
grets about the move, though she
probably will return east some
day because of family. “I’ve made
many friends here and I’ve found
that people in the Midwest are
more open and friendly. It was
a good move for the time,” she
said.
Now she is meeting students
who come to Methodist College
for much the same reason — to
find something different. That’s
especially true of the older stu-
dents who are looking at nursing
or health sciences as a second
career. “Some of the reasons they
are here are quite interesting and
we get quite a few people switch-
ing from a career in IT (informa-
tion technology) to nursing. They
find us on the web and find out
we’re a good fit for what they
want,” she said.
The average age of a Methodist
College student is 25, she added.
Because of the school’s history,
started in 1900 as a hospital-
based nursing school, and its
reputation Johnston said the core
program at Methodist College
will always be nursing education.
That was explained to the alumni
before the change to Methodist
College and the addition of new
programs was made.
“
The alumni are very proud of
the education they received. They
are very proud of this institution
and would not want anything
to damage or take away from
that. They understood what we
needed to do and we understood
their concerns. That legacy will
not be harmed. We want to make
it even better,” Johnston said.
36
thePeorian.com
The Present
