Alumni Spotlight
Lauren Kennedy, photojournalism in her future
Lauren Kennedy is on her way to fulfilling her dream of being a professional photojournalist after reinforcing her passion for photography while at SMCC.
Lauren graduated from SMCC in 2016 with a Liberal Studies degree and then transferred to the University of Southern Maine. She will receive her bachelor’s degree in Media Studies this spring.
While at SMCC, Lauren took classes in a number of programs because she wanted to explore as many subjects as she could. But she remained passionate about photography throughout, taking four photography courses and taking photos at the popular TEDxSMCC event in 2016.
At USM, she is director of photography of the school’s student newspaper and carries her camera with her wherever she goes. She recently had more than a dozen of her portrait photos featured in The Portland Phoenix newspaper.
After graduation, she plans to go to graduate school and then become a photojournalist, either for a newspaper or traveling abroad with a nonprofit.
“I’ve always been passionate about photojournalism. At SMCC, I came to the realization that I could do whatever I wanted and whatever I was passionate about.”
Equipment Spotlight
Ricky T. Bones, helping radiography students
Ricky T. Bones spends all of his time in one place on campus: the radiography lab in the Health Sciences Center. That where he serves as a valuable learning tool so radiography students can hone their radiographic imaging skills.
Standing about 5 feet, 5 inches tall, Ricky is the nickname given to a life-size semi-transparent simulation mannequin. He has a state-of-the-art synthetic skeleton, lungs, liver, kidneys and heart. His joints are bendable so that students can place him in various positions.
Students use Ricky for hands-on learning by placing him under the lab’s radiographic imaging machine and taking X-rays of whatever body parts they choose. The images then appear on the lab’s imaging monitor, where they can be examined by students.
Ricky is an invaluable tool because he allows students to obtain imaging experience in the lab and improve their skills before they take X-ray images on live patients in clinical settings.