By: Judy Leonard

Two graduates of Southeast Community College recently assisted with the production of a video tape for the Fulfilling the Promise Campaign. They also agreed to share their stories in - GRADS MADE GOOD.

Leah Cobb, M.D. who finished her AA degree at Southeast's Middlesboro Campus in 1995 had this to say when interviewed, "Neither of my parents ever finished high school. (They were) born during the Depression and raised in the post-Depression era in rural Southeastern Kentucky - Frakes, Kentucky, in Bell County to be exact. Education was a luxury - not a necessity for my parents and their numerous siblings. Both my mom and dad were bright. My mother relates a rather poignant story of how her 9th grade teacher took her to the side one day after class and told her she should try to go on to college - to 'make something out of herself'. My mother self-prophetically replied, 'I will be lucky to finish high school.' She had to drop out the following year. My father was mechanically gifted and could easily have gone on to a degree in engineering, but those aspirations were thwarted early on when he dropped out in the 9th grade to help financially support his younger brothers. My mom says that being a wife and mother was paramount to pursuing an education in subsequent years. My father worked long, hard hours as a coal miner, truck driver, and mechanic. So for my parents, education never lead to their realization of their full potential."

Dr. Cobb went on to say, "As for me, I was the youngest of four children - my siblings were from 12 to 16 years my senior. My parents moved us to Middlesboro when I was two years old, so I am a partial product of the Middlesboro Independent School System. I was a bright kid and did very well in school up until my junior year in high school. Admittedly, I was not a social butterfly and had a hard time finding - or even defining - my niche. I allowed social issues to weigh heavily in my decision to drop out of high school as a fledgling senior. For the next several years, I worked at minimum wage jobs. I regretted my decision to drop out of high school, but allowed one day to turn into the next trying desperately not to think about the missed opportunities. I thought about which colleges my friends had gone to - the exciting paths their lives were taking - all the while thinking about what an un-exciting path my life was taking. Throughout this time, my mother was quietly supportive while at the same time gently encouraging me to get my GED and try a few courses at what was then the satellite campus that SECC was just beginning to establish in Middlesboro. It took some cajoling, but I finally gave in. I bought a GED review book, studied for several weeks, and took and passed my test."

Dr. Cobb continued by saying, " I did go on to obtain my AA degree from SECC - but when I studied at SECC, classes were held on the third floor of the First State Bank in Middlesboro and on the second floor of the Middlesboro Board of Education building. I initially planned to pursue a two-year degree - something to get me out of those minimum wage jobs. I was swayed towards medicine by my mentor, Dr. Saeb Omar who taught Anatomy and Physiology and basic Biology courses at the SECC campus in Middlesboro. He (Dr. Omar) called me into his office one day early in my first full semester at SECC and asked what I planned to do with my life. I replied that I just wanted to get a better job. His response was that I should consider becoming a doctor. To be honest, I had never even thought of becoming a doctor until that day. So it was Dr. Omar who planted the seed that would eventually come to fruition. I received a scholarship to the University of Kentucky where I got my BS degree in Biology in 1997. I took one year off to work as an Americorps VISTA Volunteer for the Bell County Council on Literacy - during that year I was accepted to the University of Louisville and to the University of Kentucky colleges of medicine. I received my Doctor of Medicine degree from the UK College of Medicine in May of 2002, and I am currently in my second year of residency at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia."

When asked about the future, Dr. Cobb said, "As of now, my plan is to specialize in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and be board certified in both adult and child/adolescent psychiatry. I will actually be returning to Southeastern Kentucky - most likely to Hazard, Kentucky - to work at the ARH in Hazard which also serves as the state psychiatric hospital for that part of the state. I actually have a four-year service contract agreement with ARH. They paid a substantial portion of my way through medical school in return for four years of service at one of their sites. I will do mostly adult (psychiatry) for those four years, but will probably simultaneously join or start a child practice in Knoxville, Tennessee, and will live in or around my hometown of Middlesboro and commute to Hazard and/or Knoxville. Then, after my four years at Hazard, I plan to move my practice - mostly child/adolescent inpatient and outpatient to Knoxville, Tennessee."

Jeff Simpson, President of Simpson & Sons Service in Cumberland, Kentucky, related the following story during his recent interview:

"My fiancee and I enrolled for classes at SECC in 1973. We were the oldest of three children of coal miner families and we'd planned to complete four-year degrees in college. Southeast gave us the opportunity to remain at home - saving the cost of room, board, and travel and reduced the financial burden on our parents - and it gave us a quality education. All in all Southeast was a perfect transition from a small town high school to a large university."

Mr. Simpson continued by saying, " My mother actually enrolled at Southeast in the mid-1960' s, and she taught here after obtaining her master' s degree. With our encouragement our son Derek enrolled at SECC this fall making him a third generation student."

Not long after completing his BS degree in Electrical Engineering from UK, Jeff Simpson worked for Blue Diamond Coal Company as the Staff Electrical Engineer. He remained in that position for two years before taking his current position as President of Simpson and Sons Service located in Cumberland, Kentucky.

Simpson & Sons Service has been in business since 1976 as a mining and industrial supply company, and has customers in Kentucky, West Virginia, Virginia, and Tennessee. In addition to serving as the company president, Mr. Simpson handles all the accounting and the technical sales.

Jeff is married to the former Shelia Blair who is the Business Education teacher at Cumberland High School. Mr. Simpson's oldest son, Kevin works in the family business, and Derek, Jeff's youngest son, could join the family business once he completes his AA degree at Southeast. Jeff's Dad, Henry (Bo) Simpson, and his Mother, Lillian, both semi-retired, stay busy running the newly renovated Lillian's Novo Theater in downtown Cumberland. In addition to Simpson & Sons Service, Jeff and his family own Modern Appliance & Furniture in downtown Cumberland.

Because of Southeast Community College, both Leah Cobb, and Jeff Simpson have been able to obtain degrees in higher education that have enabled them to each give something back to the state and to the region. Southeast salutes Leah Cobb and Jeff Simpson as Grads Made Good!