Columbia native Chelcie Waters is the proud matriarch of a Christ centered family.

A registered nurse by trade, caring for others is second nature and a foundational quality that has ensured that her family leads a life guided by submission to the almighty and unwavering faith to a higher purpose.

However clear her path and purpose are now, Waters says that it took her share little twists and turns over the course of her journey to arrive at her destination.

As familial bonds are the cornerstones of her daily life, it’s no surprise that her personal odyssey begins with motherhood. Upon graduating from Columbia High School in 2007, Waters would welcome the first addition to her family soon after.

“I had my daughter two weeks after I graduated high school and really that was the start of my story,” she says. “It was one of the many little details that nudged me in the direction I’d eventually end up. So I took a little time off after high school to recalibrate. It didn’t take me long to realize that I wanted to go to college and make something of myself… for me and my daughter. She really was the driving force behind my journey.”

With that clear goal in mind, Waters decided to join the medical field.

Soon after she enrolled at Beaufort County Community College and began the daunting task of putting herself through school, something that would prove challenging.

“I ended up in nursing school as a single parent…I was still living in Columbia in subsidized housing and I was driving back-and-forth for an hour every day,” she recounts. “That was pretty challenging… probably one of the hardest things I’ve ever gone through, but it was definitely worth it.”

As she tells it, her foray into the nursing field came largely as a result of the positive experiences she had in high school as part of Allied Health courses.

“In high school we were offered Allied Health science classes and I knew immediately that I wanted to go into the healthcare field as part of that,” she recalls. “It was one of the classes that I really looked forward to and one that I made straight A’s in. I realized that I really loved caring for people. I’ve got a big heart and I’ve always had a lot of empathy so it was a way for me to put that into practice…without those courses I’m not sure I’d have known early on where I wanted to be.”

Waters would graduate from Beaufort in 2012 and would begin working shortly after for the Colony Ridge Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Nags Head, now Peak Resources.

Waters would work at Colony Ridge for a few years doing her due diligence for the facility’s residents. Having achieved her dream vocation, Waters recalls that she would also achieve the other great milestone of her life, reconnecting with Jon Waters, a long time family friend, renowned musician and her future husband.

“It’s funny, we like to joke that we had an arranged marriage. Our moms are like best friends and I grew up best friends with both of his sisters, and he grew up as the best friend of my middle brother,” she laughs. “We hung out all the time and we never thought we would end up together. But we got a little older, we both went through breakups at the same time…our moms kind of nudged us along a bit and the rest is history. We really hit it off and it’s been beautiful...”