First Payback Scholar Returns to Work in the Choctaw Nation
At the end of a long educational journey filled with hard work and God-moments, Megan Palmer took her final test — the licensure exam — to become a physical therapist. She failed it.
“It’s okay, you’ll get it next time,” people encouraged her. Megan, then of Vilonia, Arkansas, continued with her plans to fulfill the Heritage Medical payback scholarship she’d received in 2015 from the Chahta Foundation. She moved to Talihina, Oklahoma, where she started work as a tech in the Talihina Choctaw Nation Health Center.
Though Megan wasn’t beginning her new job as a physical therapist there at the hospital, she would gain new experiences and prepare for the next opportunity to test in October 2018. But she failed it, too.
After years of pieces coming together for her education, Megan found herself questioning God’s plan. “I thought this is what You wanted me to do?” she asked. “I know Your plan is better than mine, and there must be something here, but I’m having trouble seeing it.”
Growing up, Megan didn’t have any inclinations for a particular career path. But little things added up. In church, she offered a pregnant friend a back massage; she helped another friend who had trouble with her hands.
“I wanted to use whatever I was doing for people in a way that helped them overcome pain or even insecurities if they are restricted from things they enjoy,” she says.
In high school, Megan took medical profession classes that sparked an interest in that field. Friends and family encouraged her to consider massage therapy. But she wanted to go deeper.
In pursuit of her educational goals to become a physical therapist, Megan applied for and went on to receive the Chahta Foundation Heritage Medical scholarship. She was thrilled and felt it was yet another huge door God had pushed open as she went on to earn her Doctorate of Physical Therapy.
And then came the sequence of failed tests.
Colleagues at the hospital encouraged Megan for the next testing opportunity in January 2019. She prepared with extra online studies and prayer.
All nerves when the time came around again, Megan tested — and passed.
“When I found out, I had the biggest, ugliest tears I’ve probably ever cried in my life,” she says with a laugh. “I felt like I’ve done what I needed to, and it’s all to the glory of God. I finally get to return everything I’ve been given.”
Megan is now moving into her scholarship payback position as a physical therapist at the Talihina Choctaw Nation Health Center.
“It makes me proud to know that I’m a part of something,” she says, “that my ancestors went through a lot to get us to where we are today, and we’re doing good with it.”
Megan was the first to receive a payback scholarship through the Chahta Foundation and is now the first to fulfill that obligation.
“Education is hard these days,” Megan says. “There are a lot of people in my position, who fail and don’t feel like there is anyone else who does. Maybe putting my story out there will mean something to someone else.”
Credit: Sarah Elisabeth Sawyer
