Bonny Johnson, Medical Assistant

Bonnie smiles for the camera holding a paper reward. She is wearing a black polo shirt which makes the red white and blue lanyard of her medal pop. Checking a child's temperature at their home, Bonnie smiles. Presumably the child's mother is sat to the side, offering her kid support with a gentle hand on their arm. Bonnie is wearing a bible verse t-shirt while the mother and child both wear red.

Like many students starting out, Bonny Johnson wasn’t sure if college was for her, or what career path she wanted to pursue, but she knew one thing for sure: she wanted to help others.

Before enrolling at GHC, Bonny took training to work as a home care provider. This became a turning point in her educational journey. “I got an education to be a home care provider, and that education lit a fire in me. I had a thirst for education that could not be filled,” she recalled. Soon after, a friend recommended GHC’s Medical Assisting program, and Bonny decided to give it a shot.

“I had this fear going back to school, because I remember how hard school was for me,” Bonny said, reflecting on her first day back in a classroom. “Math class with Patrick Martin changed everything. He didn’t wait for me to ask for help, he just gave me the help I needed,” she remembered. “That was huge, for me to get that help in my first class.”

Bonny found her way at GHC and excelled. She enjoyed study parties with her Medical Assisting classmates and joined the Phi Theta Kappa (PTK) honor society. The winter before she graduated, Bonny was recognized for her accomplishments as a student and a community volunteer with a nomination to represent GHC on PTK’s All-USA Academic Team.

Outside of the classroom, Bonny kept busy with an active volunteer schedule, raising money for various organizations and nonprofits and leading an effort to provide medical clinics in Uganda with supplies. She worked with other volunteers to sew pillowcase dresses, washable sanitary pads, and pouches for the clinics, with a goal of visiting Uganda to provide on-the-ground support at the clinics.

Bonny graduated with her Associate of Applied Science in Medical Assisting in June, 2023, which soon became a summer of achieving dreams – after receiving her diploma, she left for a volunteer trip to Uganda! “Our days were filled with going to schools and orphanages and handing out all the items we brought. We did a pop-up clinic on a Saturday where I got to put my training into practice,” Bonny shared. “That day we saw 195 patients.”

After returning from her volunteer trip, Bonny said the transition to working full time was “pretty smooth,” but she missed studying. “I thought I would enjoy the break, but I missed it!”

Bonny has put her education and experience to work as a Nationally Certified Medical Assistant. She started out in the Prompt Care and Suboxone Clinic and soon moved up to the Cardiology floor. Now, Bonny is a Supervisor and Nationally Certified Medical Assistant on the Cardiology and Internal Medicine floor at Harbor Regional. When reflecting on her time at GHC, Bonny said, “I use absolutely everything that I learned in Medical Assisting classes and the health classes, as well as my Microsoft class.”

With a full-time job and family life, she volunteers when she can after work and spends two Saturdays a month sewing items for the medical clinics in Uganda. “This leaves two Saturdays a month for fun stuff, hopefully!” she said.

When reflecting on her time at GHC, Bonny said, “A college education is amazing. It takes somebody who had nothing financially, and as an older person going back to college, it gave me hope.”