Getting
to college wasn't easy for Evelyn earned
her Ph.D from Widener University. Her journey
took her to several countries, across the Atlantic, and through many
years of hard work and determination.
In high school, Dogbey attended a private boarding school in Ghana,
where she grew up, a country that doesn't have free public education.
Her family barely had enough money for tuition after the help of
scholarships, much less for books and uniforms. "I didn't have
financial support. It was hard getting to where I am, but looking back,
I always had a will to go to University," she said.
Dogbey faced adversity when her father died, leaving her mother, a
housewife, to pay for school and look after six daughters. There were
nights she awoke at midnight to borrow someone else's book so she could
study. "I was just staying alive there. I didn't have money to buy
anything. I didn't have anyone to visit me or bring me things that my
classmates received," she said. There were even times when
administrators asked her to leave class because she had not paid her
fees, and even worse, there were days when she questioned if she would
be able to complete high school. After years of dedication, she was the
only girl in her class to qualify for college. She graduated at the top
of her class with excellent grades. Dogbey would have loved nothing more
than to do a college search, find one of the top schools in the region
and become an attorney as she always dreamed, but she couldn't afford to
go to a university.
Dreams dashed and in the face of reality, Dogbey moved to England
to pursue a career in nursing. It was practical, she said, and would pay
the bills. She hoped to return to Ghana shortly to go to college,
perhaps after a few years of working. But then more adversity stopped
her in her path to go to university. "When my mother died, I knew I had
to do something all by myself," she said. Dogbey was heartbroken and
felt alone in a foreign country, and saw no way to return to Ghana or to
go to college. A former classmate, who she is still good friends with
today, convinced her to stay in England, and Dogbey fell in love with
nursing. She graduated with a nursing degree from Canterbury, where she
got intense experience in the operating room.
Again, her life took another path away from college. She fell in
love, married and moved to Canada. Online college degrees were not
available then, in the late 1970s, so there was no easily accessible way
to earn a nursing degree. She worked in Alberta and then in Toronto for
a few years, putting off her goal of pursuing more college, until the
couple moved to America. But her passion for higher education and the
medical field carried her onward. "It was an innate thing that came out
in me. I wanted to help people get better," she said.
Then, what Dogbey calls a miracle occurred. She applied for a job
at Temple, put the resume in, and practically forgot about it. Dogbey
went on vacation and was traveling throughout the United States and
Canada for three months. "I got a call and they said they had been
looking for me. Temple said I should go for an interview, and if I liked
it there I could have the job," she said.
Dogbey accepted the position and within months was promoted to a
nurse manager. The nursing staff approached her about becoming a
professor. She started doing online research, conducting surveys with
the Association of Perioperative Registered Nurses, and working toward
her dissertation to meet the goal of becoming an adjunct professor.
Temple offered Dogbey a job contingent on earning a nursing Ph.D
degree. It took her four years, and she just graduated, completed her
dissertation on the 'effects of working in the high stress world of the
operating room', and now is an assistant professor at Temple University. Dogbey is thrilled at her accomplishments and hopes to bring more nurses
into the operating room, whether through earning online degrees or in
traditional classroom settings. The average age of operating room nurses
is steadily increasing and not many young people are embracing the
field, she said.
"I spent 12 weeks in the OR, and I knew this is what I wanted to
do, but schools today maybe rotate students in one or two days in the
OR," she said. That's not long enough to experience the highs of helping
with surgery, the adrenaline rushes of helping, and the satisfaction of
knowing people are healing. Dogbey suggests anyone doing a college
search should ask how long they will focus on specific fields, even if
you're looking to earn an online degree. She also adds that it is
important to have computer training to use in today's hospital. Dogbey
emphasizes the passion it takes to be a good nurse, and to get through
school. Above all else though, she says it is her faith that carried her
to graduating with a nursing degree. "I never took a step without
prayer," she said. Dogbey is an active member of Kingsway Church in
Cherry Hill, NJ, who said it was through the help of others and God
answering her prayers that she was able to go from being a girl in Ghana
wondering how to pay for books to an accomplished nursing assistant
professor and nurse practitioner in America.
Last year, Dogbey returned to Ghana for a visit to her family. She
was happy to see her nieces and nephews, she welcomed many to visit her
in New Jersey, and she encourages them all to attend college.
