Patricia Reidy, interim dean of the School of Nursing at MGH Institute, addressed the crowd in 1CW on Tuesday, calling nursing, “the most trusted profession” during the pinning ceremony for the ABSN class to mark their transition into the field. The 64 students who recently completed their academic and clinical requirements after starting the program last January make up the first class to complete the program in 12 months. 

According to faculty speaker, Assistant Professor Karen Hunt, that was no small feat. 

“It demanded courage, unwavering determination, adaptability and resilience,” Hunt told the class. “You didn’t just survive this program, you thrived. Now, like a tree with deep roots, you are firmly grounded and ready to grow into a strong and sturdy nurse.”

The student address by Taylor Wells focused on the choices that each of them made to be a nurse and then brought together in the ABSN program, as well as the decisions they will make as nurses in clinical care and how they choose to act in challenging situations.

“We’ve chosen an incredible path where we will bear witness to the first breath of life and the last,” she said to her fellow graduates. “What a privilege it is to walk this chosen path together.”

When it came time for awards, Wells and her fellow class representative, Alyssa Montecalvo-Deliza, earned the Faculty and Student Recognition for Outstanding Leadership. Lun Guo was awarded the Faculty Recognition for Academic/Clinical Excellence, Keyona Bell was honored with the Quinn Award for Social Justice in Nursing, Yadira Rodriguez was awarded the Rose Marie Scalora Marasco Scholarship, and Constance Ryan, from the MGH Class of 1976, presented the Lloyd Nichols Staats Scholarship to Abigail Laurence on behalf of the MGH Nurses’ Alumni Association.