Meet Abigail.

What made you consider nursing as a program of study?

Ever since I was a kid, helping my grandpa take his blood sugar at home and giving him his insulin, I knew I wanted to do something in healthcare. The one thing I loved about nursing is it continuously gives me an opportunity to make an impact in my patient’s lives, as we are the healthcare providers who are with them the most. I love nothing more than helping people, giving back to my community that gave so much to me, and bringing a smile to someone’s face.

Even the smallest acts as nurses, a lot of patients appreciate those acts greatly. Some of these patients are experiencing the scariest moments of their lives, and the fact that nursing gives me that opportunity to support them in those moments and be a light during that time, is what led me to choose nursing the most.

Did you have an ah-ha moment about wanting to become a nurse?

Throughout my childhood years, my grandpa would always call me his “little nurse,” which when it came to deciding my major applying to WVU, was something that stuck with me and led me to that “ah-ha” moment in deciding I wanted to be a nurse.

I knew how much joy it brought me helping him, and knew I’d find just as much joy helping others as a nurse. I also feel like that “ah-ha” moment was clarified my junior year of college, which was when a lot of my learning in school truly started being applied in the clinical setting.

Most people told me that junior year, you really start connecting the dots between your learning in the classroom and the clinical setting, and that was very true! It gave me so much encouragement, and truly reminded me that I can be a nurse, and that I was right where I was supposed to be!

Why did you choose WVU School of Nursing?  

I could tell by just talking to students I knew who were currently in the program that WVU School of Nursing would provide me with such wonderful opportunity, whether that was educationally or regarding experience in the clinical setting. I think what sets WVU SON apart from other colleges is that we get clinical experience at Ruby Memorial Hospital, which is the No. 1 hospital here in West Virginia and a highly trained Level One Trauma Center. Considering the amount I have learned and the critical patients I have gotten to taken care of during my leadership rotation here at Ruby, I feel very prepared and excited going into my nursing career as a Medical Intensive Care Unit nurse.

Could you share a positive experience from your time at the SON?

A positive experience with the WVU SON is the friendships I made along the way. I truly think you bond in a different way with these people because you go through some of the most difficult years of school with them. I am so grateful for all of the friendships that have formed since being a part of this nursing program, and I am excited to even get to work with some of those friends I have made on the MICU.

What’s one piece of advice you would give your freshman self?

One piece of advice I would give my freshman year self is to believe in myself! As a freshman, I remember looking ahead to the next four years and I was terrified. You hear all these things from upperclassman in the nursing program about how difficult and time consuming it is, and you start to think, “Can I do this?”, and discouragement then follows.

My piece of advice is — you will make it! It takes so much hard work, dedication, and faith in yourself to keep pushing through in those late-night study sessions, times when you have three exams to study for and five different assignments to get done, or moments you literally haven’t done anything other than study for three days straight, but there is an end to the chaos. You will learn so much in such a short amount of time and realize how much you truly are capable of. I see where I am at now compared to freshman year, and it is so cool to see how far I have come, both professionally and as an individual.

What are your plans after graduation?

I plan to work in the Medical Intensive Care Unit at Ruby Memorial Hospital as my first nursing job after graduation. I’m wanting to work there for a few years, and then go to nurse practitioner or nurse anesthetist school—I haven’t quite decided yet. If I would do nurse practitioner school, I’d also love to potentially be a clinical instructor through WVU to give back to a program that gave me so much.

How do you feel WVU prepared you for your next chapter?

I feel WVU prepared me so well for this next chapter of my life. I have developed knowledge and confidence in myself that I never dreamed I would have back during my freshman year of college. I feel more than prepared to tackle the NCLEX here in a few weeks and start my nursing career. I thank WVU for giving me the opportunity it did to pursue such a wonderful career, and I will forever be proud to be a WVU alumni!

Anything else you’d like to add?

I’m so thankful for the opportunities WVU and the WVU School of Nursing has given me. I thank all of my professors who believed in me and my other classmates along the way, and who pushed us to keep going when we thought we couldn’t make it. Your work to make WVU School of Nursing a program that gives us the highest quality education and prepares us for our future careers does not go unnoticed!