I wanted to be a nurse or a P.E. (physical education) teacher from the time I was in grade school. I ended up working part time at St. Joseph’s Home over on Heading Avenue as a nursing assistant and had some wonderful role models. That experience and watching those nurses helped me make that decision.
I wanted to be the person responsible for continuing education at the Health Department. So I went back and got a master’s degree in community health nursing with an education track. While I was there, a few faculty members asked me, “Don’t you want to do what it is we do?” They talked me into staying to earn my doctorate so I could educate nurses instead of teaching continuing education.
I think I’m proudest of our undergraduate nursing students and the fact that my colleagues and I worked very hard to refine the curriculum. Today we celebrate a very high NCLEX (licensing exam) pass rate. I think we’re graduating very professional young people into the profession. I know I’m touching patients to this day by virtue of sending out competent practitioners who care for people all over.
I’ll miss the students and my colleagues, and all the fun and the laughs we’ve had. Bradley’s been a fun place to work. I’ve made lots of good friends, good colleagues, and I’ll miss them all.
Travel and babysitting. We have two sons (Kevin ’04 and Daniel ’09) and nine grandchildren. I also have five siblings that live all over the U.S., so we’ll probably travel to see them. We also like being at the beach or at the lake, so we’ll spend some time there, too.
