Megan Mead

Look closely at Megan Mead’s “Find Your Way Here” campaign photo for symbols of her journey to UNCG: U.S. Army dog tags. A turquoise ring designed by a beloved uncle that reflects her Arizona roots. Paracord bracelets made during her deployment in Afghanistan, with a closure engraved in memory of her mother. And an ambigram tattoo that reads “sinner” or “saint,” depending on the view.

A veteran, mother, and student in Lloyd International Honors College and the School of Nursing, Mead brings her multi-faceted experience to UNCG with support from the Scurry Family Scholarship. Judy Paulette Newton Scurry ’68 and William Cooper Scurry, Sr., created the scholarship to support Lloyd International Honors College students and recognize generations of Scurry family members, honoring those who graduated from UNCG.

“Making the decision to leave behind a stable career and step out into uncertainty is not an easy thing to do, and it’s even harder when you have a family,” declares Mead. “I knew that nursing was what I wanted to do, but the journey to get there hasn’t been easy! I couldn’t have made it to where I am now without a little help from outside sources like the Scurry Scholarship.”

Dr. Omar Ali, Dean of Lloyd International Honors College, commends Mead:

“Megan Mead is extremely deserving of the Scurry Family Scholarship. Embodying the best of service to others, Megan is a veteran of the U.S. Army who has long looked out for others in the armed forces and their families … She established both a zero-tolerance policy on sexual harassment in her unit along with a much-needed safety program … She is among our most brilliant and brightest of stars, providing hope and light to those she reaches.”

Serving her country from 2007-2015 as an aircraft pneudraulics mechanic, Mead was deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan. Her 2016 oral history interview is part of the Betty H. Carter Women Veterans Historical Project, established at UNCG in 1998.

Nursing attracted Mead because of its connection between empathy and integrity. The intensity of military service renders Mead especially attentive to the significant moments in patients’ lives that occur with nursing. She is tuned in and authentic. Mead received the blue cap in the photo at her School of Nursing white coat ceremony. She now works at Novant Health Forsyth Medical Center and at UNCG’s Military-Affiliated Services.

As for the “sinner” and “saint” tattoo?

“There is a little of both of these in all of us,” Mead observes.

More saint than sinner, and with the help of the Scurry Family Scholarship, Mead has found her way at UNCG.

Story by Zoe Dillard, Donor Relations