Graduation with President Sasser
Reflections Speech – ASN Graduating Class – 04/28/2016
I would like to start today by thanking everyone for being here to join us in this celebration. Our class would like to thank our professors, and the nurse preceptors in the hospitals, that have encouraged us to strive for excellence as care providers and patient advocates. They may not have made it easy on us, but they certainly have challenged us to become the best that we can be. We would also like to thank all of our families and friends! Many of you have made tremendous sacrifices in order to help us complete our goals. Many of you have not seen much of us these last 16 months, and when you did, we were probably so exhausted we barely had the energy to talk. We would not be here today graduating without all of your love, encouragement, patience, and support for us.
During our time here in nursing school, members of our class have experienced both happy times, such as the weddings of classmates, and family members, births of children, or in my case – grandchildren. But we have also experienced sad times, like the endings of relationships and the loss of loved ones. I personally believe, that our loved ones are here with us in spirit, and it is the strengths and passions that they instilled in us, that help us through the difficult times.
When I began preparing to start nursing school, I asked for advice from my son Brian, and daughter Megan, who had graduated from the nursing program here ahead of me. Their advice was: sit in the back of the room, and stay under the radar. Well, for those of you who know me, you know that that did not happen. I sat in the second row from day one, and loved raising my hand to participate in discussions, and to share stories. I became very involved in the Nursing Student Association, and in Phi Theta Kappa because I feel strongly that giving back, in service to others, is very important. We would not be entering into the field of nursing if caring for others was not our passion. For Spring Break this year, ten percent of our class went on a medical mission trip together to Nicaragua, and those who could not go, helped by gathering donations of supplies for us. We saw almost 1000 people who had never had medical care during that week. Our hearts will never be the same, and bonds were formed that will last forever.
Nursing school is not easy, and in the past 16 months, we have had to juggle heavy class loads… some days for 8 hours of lectures at a stretch, broken up only by those highly coveted 10 minute breaks at the top of every hour. Given the percentage of females to males in our class, there were often talks of hijacking the men’s restroom! Exams where we stayed up all night the night before cramming and studying when most of our family and friends were sleeping. We had those dreaded papers that required APA formatting, and then clinical days where we either had to get up before sunrise, or go home after sunset! Added in to the mix were Simulation, and Complex Med Labs, which were not near as bad as we were all warned they would be! Many students also had to add in the factors of jobs, family, marriages, children, sickness and just everyday life. There are five of us in our class who each have 5 children! It is hard to imagine that just 16 months ago this journey was just beginning and most us were strangers. We have been through a lot these past months and many of us have formed very close friendships. We have learned to rely on one another when needed. We learned to work together as teams both in the classroom and at the bedside. Our whole class became a part of my daughter-n-law’s pregnancy during our clinicals in Labor and Delivery and cheered the day we were in L&D review w Professor Revak-Lutz, and I got the call that Katie was finally 10 centimeters dilated, and needed to get back to the Hospital! And if I might give two pieces of advice to those starting in the nursing program – it is to form a study group early- and always carry extra i-Clicker batteries!
We have come to value the important role that compassion plays in providing patient care. Professor Cotto, once said to me, in an evaluation that, “You can teach students skills, but you cannot teach them compassion.” We must have compassion for our patients, and part of that is being an advocate for those who cannot advocate for themselves. Professor Lorenzini makes award badges for all of her clinical students that highlight times when they have acted as a patient advocate or displayed genuine compassion. These things will stick with us for the rest of our career. My daughter, who is a Santa Fe Nursing graduate, still says that the voice that pops into her head when she is in the middle of a trauma situation is Professor Jordan’s, and the voice that pops in when she needs to be more assertive is Dr. Hutton’s. And Professor McBride always went out of her way to make us feel like she genuinely cared about us. We had so many incredible Professors – Thanks to you all!
And now, a word to my fellow graduates: In the coming weeks, we will all be taking our State Boards, and making decisions on where we will be starting out our new professional careers as nurses. Some of us will also be continuing on in our educational careers to get our Bachelor’s degrees, and beyond. I believe that life long learning is crucial if we are to become Leaders of the future, and be able to make changes in the world. This is just the beginning for all of us. So, don’t ever be afraid to go after the goals that you set for yourselves. You can achieve anything that you set your mind on, and you are Never Too Old to make a change in your life. When we began this program, there were times when we thought we would never reach this day, and yet here we are, celebrating that we have finished…and proudly entering the profession of Nursing!
Sandy Pratt