Conor Parnell wanted a career that blended audio engineering and healthcare.

Enter radiography.

The 27 year old grew up in New York and headed to college after high school. But the school he was at—which specialized in audio engineering—closed down while he was there pursuing a bachelor’s degree. After that happened, he taught English in Japan. While that was a great experience, he knew he wanted to return to the United States. When he came back to the country, he worked with adults with developmental disabilities. It was that job that really opened Conor up to the idea of a career in the medical field.

Conor enrolled in Malcolm X College (MXC) in January of 2018 and started taking the courses needed to apply to the MXC Radiography program. Once he knocked those out, he was on his way to becoming a Radiologic Technologist (or rad tech or radiographer). He is finishing his first year of MXC’s Radiography program and is thriving, both academically and in his clinical rotation at UIC Hospital. Conor also is the program’s only student tutor; he helps other students in his program with concepts and coursework.

Conor plans to graduate from the program in December of 2020, and he has his sights set on working in the field, a bachelor’s degree and possibly medical school.