Getting to know you: Samantha Sawyer

If she's not scanning patients at The Women's Hospital, leading a lecture on high-risk obstetrics or guiding students through an array of clinical courses, Samantha Sawyer '11, M'14, instructor in diagnostic medical sonography, is most likely fine tuning her yoga practice or drinking endless amounts of coffee (which she credits as her lifeline).

The New Washington, Indiana native took a "terrifying" step and transitioned from student to teacher with her first adjunct position at USI in fall 2013. "That was the first time I ever read a textbook cover to cover," she recalls. "I took it so seriously." Five years later Sawyer became full time. "It's been a wild ride ever since," she says.

As a student, she recognized the importance of learning from and connecting with role models. "To see that some of the people who inspired me were able to take 20 minutes out of their day to listen to my problems, even if they were in the middle of something, was just one of the most amazing things to me," she explains. Now, she strives to be one of those mentors every day in and out of the classroom and feels she has a special connection with her students because she was in their shoes a few years back.

Let's get to know more about this proud USI alumna.

Since you graduated from USI in 2013, does that make teaching here even more special?

Yes, absolutely. USI is always going to hold a special place in my heart. I graduated from here, my brother graduated from here, my husband graduated from here, my sister-in-law graduated from here-it's like a family. None of us are from Evansville, and for us to come here and have this special relationship with Evansville has been a really amazing experience.

Were you involved in any extracurricular activities when you were a student at USI?

I cheered for USI my freshman year. I decided after freshman year that my body was done and that I was ready to focus on getting my credit hours in and moving on towards my master's degree. I made some of my best friendships, and I'm still friends with people to this day that I cheered with. It was an awesome way to start school here.

Did you compete at UCA Nationals like the USI Cheer team does now?

We were co-ed, so we did compete, just in a different division than now. I didn't get to compete because I wasn't a flyer, but it was still an amazing experience. I wish it would have been all-girl like it is now.

If you could travel anywhere in the world for an entire month, where would you go?

I love yoga, and I would love to travel to India. I love yoga philosophy and yoga tradition and to really learn that in the most authentic place of yoga's origination would be a dream come true for me.

What's your number one pet peeve?

My number one pet peeve is when people waste my time. One weekend I was with my friends and we were talking about the love languages, and we got on the topic on how mine will always come back to time. I like for my friends to be present with me, and if they're on their phones, I'll be like, "What are you doing? Get off your phone!" If I ever make an arrangement to meet with someone, I'm always early because I'm just so nervous about wasting other people's time because it's something I value so much.

Tell me what you do as a sonographer at The Women's Hospital.

I have spent the last several years scanning everything from general sonography to cardiac sonography. For the most part, my specialty has been in maternal fetal medicine, which means that I help care for high-risk mothers and babies.

It's hard to describe the feeling that you get when you know you're changing someone's outcome for their pregnancy or the delivery of their baby. A lot of people, when they think about ultrasound, think, "Oh you look at babies all day," and this is true for some people and their specialties, but there's also this really scary, intimidating, high-risk component of it. It's a big responsibility, but it's one I love to work with.

When you were younger, did you envision a similar career to what you have today?

Not at all. I think I wanted to be a little bit of everything. One week it was a teacher, the next it was a singer, the one after that it was an artist or a fashion designer. I wanted to do it all.

I actually have a family member who does ultrasounds which kind of opened my eyes to what this path could look like. I always liked science and anatomy, and this is a very anatomical and physiological-based career. I loved that aspect of it. It is the coolest job in the entire world still.

What is the best advice you can give to students working towards a career in the medical field?

Be ready to accept critique every single day. Sometimes this is a thankless profession, and sometimes you feel like you're never doing anything right. If you take everything as a learning opportunity and use your experience to improve, you'll never have a bad day. You're going to have bad days, but if you really strive to learn from them, you're going to be just fine. This is a profession that never stops changing, and you have to be ready to take that on.

University Communications student worker Kaylee Johnson conducted this interview with Samantha Sawyer.