Meet Sophia Harris. Sophia is a B.S.N. student at the Brookings site. She is from Omaha, Nebraska.
What motivated you to choose a career in nursing: My biggest motivation for choosing nursing would be my mother. She was diagnosed with breast cancer when I was in high school, and I was in charge of her cares and wound dressing changes and drainage while she was home. I also attended chemotherapy sessions with her and had the best experience with the nurses taking care of her and fell in love with the profession and saw a lot of the same qualities in my self that these nurses had.
Why did you choose SDSU to pursue your nursing degree: I chose South Dakota State University because of the location. I am from out of state, but Omaha is close enough to where I can go home if need be. I loved how the nursing program here was competitive so it pushed me to succeed in my prerequisites. I also enjoyed the fact that each nursing semester is only around sixty students, which makes the professor to student ratio lower, making it easier to be more one-on-one with my professors. The professors are always willing to meet with you and know you by name by the time the semester is up. I know that I have a strong community of support in the nursing program and everyone wants you to succeed.
What clinical experience have you enjoyed the most and why: I would say that my favorite clinical experience would be all of them. I have been fortunate enough to be in a semester where our clinical experience hours have not been cut as short or have been online like other semesters, so I just enjoy being able to be with all kinds of patients, face to face. Getting that hands on experience is one of my favorite things, and I: learn a lot about myself and about being a nurse through each one.
What organizations are you involved in? Chi Omega, Order of Omega and NSCS.
Is there a particular field of nursing that you are planning to pursue: I get asked this a lot. Currently, I am not sure. I am still trying to figure out which field I am drawn to the most, which is okay! I still have time! I want to start in a medical-surgical unit upon graduation, just to get my assessment skills and education down before moving to a more specialized unite.
What is your BIG dream? I plan on pursuing my master's and continuing on to be a professor at a university teaching nursing students. My professors have had a huge impact on this decision, and I have always loved the education side of nursing so I hope to be like my professors one day.
What advice would you share with a future nursing student: Don't be discouraged. There are times where you won't get into the nursing program the first time, or you don't do well on an exam, or you make a mistake in clinical. Don't let that make you think that you were not made to be a nurse or that you are not cute out for nursing school. It is tough, and it pushes you, but that is because you are going to be one of the people responsible for your patient's life, which is not a responsibility to take on lightly. Like all of our professors tell us, nursing is the most trusted professions. With that, you will be pushed and challenged, but in the end you are going to be more a competent, confident and more well rounded individual and nurse.