2026 graduate Monica Thompson conquers fear of public speaking to give commencement address

2026 Laurel Ridge grad Monica Thompson has many interests and her time at Laurel Ridge reflects this. She is earning her associate degree in education today, less than a year after attaining a phlebotomy credential.

Before graduating from Warren County High School in 2022, Thompson earned her certified nurse aide license, and has used that while working in several medical facilities. She is currently working as a medical assistant at a pulmonology and sleep medicine practice.

“I plan on going into some type of nursing program at some point,” Thompson said. “I genuinely have a passion for young kids. I started working as a substitute teacher and fell in love with it. I also was interested because of my youth ministry group at my church. The program helped me with creating lesson plans and teaching the kids the word of God.

“I also really love nursing as well. I think having an education background will help if I work in pediatric nursing. I’m very hands on and like to try different things. There is so much out there, career-wise.”

One thing Thompson is especially sure of is the quality of the education she received at Laurel Ridge. In particular, she wants to recognize her Phlebotomy instructor Janet Mayes and her Communication instructor Alyson Thompson.

“I absolutely love Laurel Ridge,” she said. “Ms. Mayes is awesome. Ms. Thompson was very kind. She was always hands on with her students, always willing to tailor to your learning style any time you had questions or anything like that. She gave me confidence.”

Without her speech class – and her strong faith – Thompson doesn’t think she would be giving the commencement address.

“That class helped me conquer a lot of things, showing that I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me,” she said. “I’m a person who hated public speaking, but once I got through the class, Ms. Thompson gave me a lot of confidence in that area.”