Posted November 2, 2015
By Annie Lambert, Director of Alumni Engagement
and Kate Henchy, M.Ed. candidate, USC College of Education
Megan Scharner, a freshman from Cincinnati, Ohio, joined the College of Nursing family this fall as its first McNair Scholar.
Scharner was one of 20 selected out of over 2,100 students to be a McNair Scholar at Carolina. McNair Scholars are out-of-state students selected for being in the top of their class. These scholars have an average SAT score of 1532 and high school GPA of 4.79. McNair Scholars receive automatic admission into the South Carolina Honors College.
As a McNair Scholar, Scharner will work closely with her faculty mentor, Dr. DeAnne Messias, professor and director of the nursing PhD program.
“Dr. Messias does a lot of research on how to more effectively deliver health care to underprivileged communities,” Scharner said. “I want to work in pediatrics, and I really like the Spanish culture. Hopefully I will get to do research on those with Dr. Messias.”
Scharner’s goal is to work as a pediatric nurse practitioner in a hospital setting with a focus on acute care. She plans to attend graduate school after receiving her BSN and go on to earn her DNP.
The honors student jumped into life at Carolina with both feet. In addition to her studies, Scharner has pledged the Chi Omega sorority, is working to become a student ambassador and joined the scuba diving club and USC Dance Marathon morale team.
“I am excited about (working with) Dance Marathon,” Scharner said. “It is benefitting Children’s Miracle Network so it’s right up my alley.”
Over the summer, Scharner hopes to participate in the Costa Rica Global Health study abroad program. She’s particularly interested in the Spanish for Health Care Professionals course.
Though she loves being in the south, there are a few things she misses from Cincinnati.
“Skyline chili … and Graeter’s ice cream!” she laughed.