Kahley Verville, an alumna of State College of Florida, Manatee-Sarasota (SCF), was accepted last month into Yale University. Verville, who earned her bachelor’s degree in Health Services Administration at SCF, plans to earn a master’s degree from the Yale University School of Medicine physician associate program.
Verville graduated from SCF in May 2018 and applied to the physician assistant program in June with encouragement from one of her teachers at SCF. Katy Wallis, who taught Verville’s anatomy and physiology classes and is the program manager for SCF’s Bridge to Baccalaureate (B2B) program, helped shore up Verville’s confidence by reminding Verville of her accomplishments and community service. Once Verville was scheduled to interview for the program, Wallis coached her through the process.
“When you interview, you have to talk yourself up,” Verville said. “She helped me to realize that I did have a lot of accomplishments and community service.”
Verville began taking classes fulltime at SCF Bradenton through the dual enrollment program when she was a junior at Braden River High School. She always excelled at math and science and knew she wanted to do something within the field of science. While in high school, she took classes from Wallis and excelled with the style of teaching she received.
“I liked her class,” Verville said. “She would answer questions during her lectures, and she didn’t try to confuse us. She would talk to us during and after the labs, and she was friendly.”
A dedicated student, she took classes during the summer between her junior and senior year and was able to graduate from high school with her associate degree. She decided to stay at SCF to pursue her bachelor’s degree because of the lowcost, convenience and the quality classes.
“Other colleges were really expensive, and I wanted to get my money’s worth,” Verville said. “SCF had the classes I wanted; the schedule was flexible, so I could take classes when I wanted, and I like the small class sizes.”
That formula led to Verville finishing her bachelor’s degree in a year. She also graduated debt-free. The master’s program at Yale is a 27-month program that includes a mix of online learning, face-to-face practicums and medical rotations at hospitals and doctors’ offices. Verville wanted to go to Yale because the university was as flexible as SCF and would allow her to do her rotations in Manatee and Sarasota counties.
In addition to her stellar academic career, Verville has a history of varied community service. She started her volunteer work when she was just 8 years old by teaching karate to an underserved population. She got into karate through her mother, who was a Tae Kwan Do champion and was scheduled to go to the 1984 Olympics before she was sidelined with an injury the week before the games.
“I wanted to be like her,” Verville said. “The master of the karate school saw that I learned quickly and asked if I would start teaching.”
Memorizing the hand and kicking techniques was her first lesson in really studying, which led to her academic success, she said. Verville also has volunteered by serving the homeless, delivering food and supplies, such as backpacks with clothes and food, and serving at the food bank at her church.
She also didn’t come to the decision to pursue a career as a physician’s assistant lightly. When she started at SCF she thought she wanted to get into the physical therapist assistant program, so she decided to shadow a physical therapist. The experience led her to change her mind because she wanted to be able to use a wider array of skills. She wanted to be able to save a life if she ever stumbled on an accident, she said.
She shadowed a physician assistant in an urgent care facility and then in the emergency room.
“I liked the experience a lot,” she said. “When things were slower we would talk about her career and what I saw that day and, it really helped me decide what I wanted to do.”