When Shamika Johnson graduated from Gates County High School in 2002, she wasn’t sure what she wanted to do. But a few months before earning her Associate in Applied Science in Medical Office Administration from College of The Albemarle (COA) in 2006, her future came into focus. That’s when she accepted a job as a Certified Ophthalmologist Assistant at Coastal Eye Center in Elizabeth City.
“I love it,” Johnson said. “I can’t see myself doing anything else other than this.”
But it wasn’t her original career plan. After high school, Johnson had applied to COA’s nursing program and gotten accepted, but she also had a four-year-old daughter to take care of. She knew she would have to work part time while pursuing her nursing degree and worried that the program’s academic demands might be too difficult to manage.
Her days are spent fitting patients for eyeglasses and making adjustments as needed, taking patient histories, doing vision testing and filing insurance claims. Johnson has worked at Coastal Eye Center since 2006 and she said it’s a job she loves.
“I like meeting new patients and putting smiles back on their faces when they can see,” she said. “Making them look good, making them feel good.”
Johnson still lives in Gates County and one day, she said, she’d love to partner with an optometrist and open an optical shop in her hometown. Right now, the closest one is in Elizabeth City.
“I would like to give back to my hometown,” Johnson said.
Looking back on her start, Johnson said COA was a great place to earn her medical office administration degree. The community college was close to her home in Gates County and allowed her to raise her daughter and still pursue her degree.
“They went above and beyond to make sure I succeeded,” Johnson said, adding that the community college even helped her find her dream job at Coastal Eye Center several months before she graduated.
Not losing sight of her eventual goal, Johnson said she will return to COA, for her Associate in Applied Science in Business Administration. The business degree will help, she said, when she one day opens her own optical shop.