I feel so very fortunate and so very loved. I am so blessed to have had the opportunity to go to nursing school (no matter how stressful it was) and to be supported by my family and husband each step of the way! Nursing school is finally over, and today was a day I have dreamed of ever since I started elementary school but I have mixed emotions. I have become so very close to so many of my classmates and I am going to miss them very very much. I will keep in touch but of course it won't be the same. Other then Lucas I spent the most time with my classmates during any given week. Countless clinical hours and countless class hours. I will miss blair and shauna's witty, cleaver remarks. I will miss the lunches with classmates after or before simulation lab. I will miss talking to Jen and April and confiding in them and the list goes on and on. It is a bitter sweet day that's for sure. I think Shauna's graduation speech sums things up nicely.
Shauna's Pinning Speech:
In January 2013, sixteen of us
began our journey through nursing school together. We came from a variety of backgrounds:
medical, service industry, and theater, just to name a few. It was this variety that spiced up our cohort
and made this experience so colorful.
There have been times along the way when each of us questioned the life
choices that led us to nursing school, and there were times when each of us
questioned our sanity, many of these questions seemed to come up when we were
assigned to group projects. We
experienced many changes along the way: one of us gave birth during clinical,
two of us got married, and Rachel got all sorts of sassy. We were all pushed to what we thought was our
breaking point at one point or another, but through it all we have persevered,
and today we celebrate our amazing accomplishment.
We could not have made it through
without one another, and the help of some very special faculty members. Dr. Growe helped us to set the foundation for
our practice, and always made us complete the task the terrified us
(catheters). Professor Green was always
a bright spot on a cloudy day. Professor
Darby taught us that breastfeeding is the most important medical intervention. All of our clinical professors, who forced us
out of our comfort zone, but were always there to lend a helping hand. And pay tribute to a very special professor,
Beverly Canfield. With the birth of our
class mascot, Lansky, Professor Canfield became an honorary member of our
family. She will always hold a special
place in our hearts.
Through it all we have managed to
stick together, creating what one of my classmates aptly labeled “our
dysfunctional little family.” Our class
truly has an amazing dynamic. We have
supported one another, counseled one another, and listened to one another when
it seemed as though nobody else could understand how we were feeling.
I know that the members of my
cohort will make fantastic additions to the field of nursing, and I count
myself privileged to have had the opportunity to study alongside them.
As we finish our academic preparation and move
forward with our careers, I would like to leave you with a few thoughts:
1. always
prioritize your patients over your paycheck
2. never
stop learning
3. never
let fear, self-doubt, or the opinions of others keep you from achieving all
that you are capable of
Maya Angelou once said “people will
forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never
forget how you made them feel.”
We selected Dr. Susan Growe to announce each of us for the pinning ceremony and read our thank you notes. Dad pinned me but Lucas, Mom, Sally and Tony all came up to the stage to support me. Here is what was read while dad was pinning me.
I
wanted to thank my father who inspired me to go into the nursing profession
through his example of being caring, compassionate and hard working in a
profession that he loves. My mom who taught me how to care for others, work
hard and pursue my dreams. My father-in law and mother-in law Tony and Sally
for being supportive of me every step of the way and always showing an interest
in my schooling. And of course, I wanted to thank my wonderful husband that has
supported me through the long clinic days, countless studying hours, and has
been patient with me through the ups and downs. I have been blessed with such
an amazing family and I wanted to let my family know how much I love them and
appreciate them.
It was silly because we had to buy...yes buy...tickets for our own graduation and on top of that they only allowed us to get a total of 8 tickets! It was even more frustrating because we found this out a week before the pinning ceremony. They luckily gave us 3 free tickets but it was still silly. Due to the limited number of tickets I had to be selective on who could go to the actual pinning ceremony. Dad was sweet enough to host a lunch after the pinning ceremony at Claim Jumper so that ALL of the family could be included in my graduation celebration. Everyone was able to make it except for Jeff because of work. I felt so loved being surrounded by my family and my favorite people! Lucas gave a toast toasting me and it was such a tender moment. He teared up a little and you could tell he was just so very proud of me and all of the hard work it took to become a nurse. He also announced that he got a new job at Zimmer Biomet as a medical device runner and inventory manager (which I told him to announce because it would only add to the celebration). Sally was so sweet to give me a statue of a nurse that she got from Susan from Italy after becoming a nurse herself 30 years ago. It is such as sentimental gift and I am proud that she would want to pass it on to me even though I'm a daughter-in-law. It was such as beautiful morning and afternoon and to top it off we got pedicures with some of the aunts!
The classic widow maker that Lucas always gets!
