Meet Andrew.
Andrew Johnson was selected as one of WVU's 2023 Outstanding Seniors.
What made you consider nursing as a program of study?
I think many of us can answer the question of why we chose nursing with similar answers. Some of us chose nursing because they've always known they wanted to help, and others may have come to that conclusion more recently in life. I, however, prefer the questions, “Why have we stayed in nursing?” “Why have we continued to endure difficult classes and schedules all just to enter a more difficult and demanding profession?” “What keeps us going?”
I think the answer to those questions is more profound. For me in Pediatrics, it's the memories of the children and families I connected with; the children and families I grew to know. It's the memories of taking patients on wagon rides or playing games with them. Or it's the memories of the families we laughed with on good days, comforted on bad days, and cheered for on discharge days. These aren't things that brought me into nursing, but they have certainly kept me in it.
Why did you choose WVU School of Nursing?
When I first traveled to WVU, I knew that it was the place I wanted to be. It wasn't because of pass rates or skills labs or class sizes. It was because here in this place there was something very special that could not adequately be expressed in words. I saw a great place built between the mountains that had been found by people from every corner of the Earth who had a special love of freedom and friendship. I saw a place that fostered individualism, but also valued camaraderie. A place where friendships would be made over four years but would last a lifetime. That's how I saw it and see it still.
Could you share a positive experience from your time at the SON?
It would be very difficult to share just one positive experience, so I’d say all of my experiences with the friends I made here were some of the best and most positive memories I have here. Whether these experiences were helping each other on the clinical unit, studying together over dinner, or simply sitting in the hallway together one last time after our final exam not because we had to, but because we all wanted to share in that final success together. These are the positive experiences that I will remember most.
What’s one piece of advice you would give your freshman self?
Live in the moment. Time is one of those things that seems to get away from all of us. At one point you’re giving a 212 presentation on Therapy Dogs and Doritos commercials and before you realize it, you’re writing about that moment a week before you graduate. So don’t let time get away from you. Don’t just go through the motions and to reach that destination: BSN. Enjoy the journey, make great friendships, and even better memories.
What are your plans after graduation?
After graduation I will be working here at the WVU Children’s Hospital in the Emergency Department.
How do you feel WVU prepared you for your next chapter?
I think we hear it all the time that nursing school never prepares you for the real world, but in reality, how can it? Nursing is a field that is always changing and always adapting. It is a field that is discovering new ideas and putting them into practice. It is a field that never stops moving; WVU has prepared me and my friends to be good nurses not by giving us basic facts and knowledge, but rather by making us adaptable and dynamic — adaptable to where we understand and implement new changes that occur, but also dynamic enough to be the pioneers that are making those changes that will advance the care of our future patients.