Nursing graduates pinned
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PABLO — Twenty Salish Kootenai College nursing graduates marched into the Joe McDonald Events Center on June 5 for the pinning ceremony, ready to celebrate their degrees earned with hard work, late nights, endless studying, and sacrifice.
“Sometimes we get so caught up in testing, class work and rigor: Did I study enough? Did I prepare enough? Did I do the things I need to? Did I memorize enough? Sometimes we forget why we were even interested in the career itself,” said Robert DePoe III, SKC president. “I wanted to be able to look into your eyes and see if you lost that emotion.”
The graduates still had their passion for nursing, according to DePoe.
“We pride ourselves on the ability to build nurses who care, to build nurses who had something different than other institutions — understanding and cultural information — and with the ability to jump task-to-task, but also not forget the human experience,” he said.
Commencement speaker Maria McNeil Williams agreed with DePoe and added her own spin.
Being a nurse means being able to care for people in their weakest moment while continuing to gain knowledge “about keeping people on this side of the grass,” Williams said. “Give people the benefit of the doubt; be brave, fearless, humble and kind, but most important, be humble.”
Quoting a “Chuckism,” what Williams calls life lessons from her dad, she said, “Whether they are the garbage man or the governor, you treat everybody the same. … Go out in this world and do good.”
The Brothers drummed the processional and an honor song for the nursing graduates.
The baccalaureate degree nursing graduates chose someone to blanket them with the traditional Pendleton and the associate degree nursing grads chose a special person or persons to fasten their pin to their turquoise and white uniform.
Baccalaureate degree nursing graduates:
Dana Anderson, RN
Darwin Hensley, RN
Krysta Jacobs, RN
Christina Momberg, RN
Sara Morigeau, RN
Diana Trombley-Kipling, RN
Associate degree nursing
graduates:
Jaylyn Baxter
Savanna Bell
Joanna Browning
Lianne Cavalieri
Anthony Christensen
Bruce Genzel
Amanda Gullotta
Allison Lattin
Casey Morris
Carla Payne
Marilee Peterson
Barbara Shepard
Jessica Tolliver
Tammie Washburn
