Accomplishments, new careers, and clinical lessons among the takeaways

Today’s rain and clouds did little to dampen the spirit and excitement inside the Thomas M. Menino Convention & Exhibition Center as 665 MGH Institute graduates celebrated their milestone moment, looking back on the grit it look to complete their programs, while looking ahead to a future of possibilities. 

“It honestly feels so surreal,” marveled Destiny Gonzalez, a first-generation college graduate who just completed the ABSN program. “I'm at a loss of words, and I'm just happy that I was able to do this as a first gen not only for myself, but for my parents, and that I chose the IHP to have a welcoming community, and that's exactly what I got.”

This was Charlotte Sedgwick’s first commencement. While most graduates enjoyed commencement from their undergraduate institutions, Sedgewick graduated in 2020, when there was no in-person ceremony. That made today extra special. 

“I was really excited,” said Sedgwick, who is working at Tufts in the nurses float pool. “Today’s ceremony was really emotional. It felt like a great accomplishment. It was a really tough year, but we did It.” 

Monica Gomez, who earned her DPT degree, was in the same boat as an undergraduate who graduated in 2020. 

“It’s kind of bittersweet and nice to just finally finish my degree and appreciate both my undergraduate and doctorate, degree,” said Gomez, who began her new job on Monday as a physical therapist on at Massachusetts General Hospital. “Today was honestly amazing.”

Evan Perkins, who completed the MSN program, called the program rigorous and rewarding, especially with the clinical rotations. 

“My clinical rotations were wonderful – learned a lot at all of them,” said Perkins. “I did a rotation in orthopedics and trauma up at Mass General, and then I was in a colorectal surgery clinic and the emergency room at Salem Hospital.”

Perkins’ next stop is taking the nurse practitioner boards, and then a career in orthopedics. 

“That's what I do as a nurse right now,” said Perkins, a nurse at Newton-Wellesley Hospital.  “And it's really what I want to do as a nurse practitioner.” 

Sam Muturi came into today nervous and excited. 

“It was so great and inspirational to hear all the speeches, all the faculty, and the leaders give all their thoughts about today and what it means to all of us,” reflected Maturi, who will begin applying for fellowships with the ultimate plan of getting into pediatric speech therapy. “And it was really impactful for me when we gave kind of our praises to everyone who showed up for us, such as our parents, grandparents.” 

Lauren Velez, a genetic counseling graduate, felt the same way about the people who helped her get to today.  

“It's nice to see all my family here and celebrate with all my classmates,” noted Velez, who plans on moving back to Michigan to pursue her career. “I feel a lot of gratitude for all the faculty that got us here today, and then also, of course, my classmates. I feel like I made a lot of friends, and I'm excited to go bring everything I learned into the workforce.”

Peter Mazzaro and Ben Pariser are in the workforce as emergency room nurses at East Boston Neighborhood Health. Now, they are newly minted graduates of the Institute’s DEN program. 

“I am very excited to be done with the program - it was a great program,” noted Mazzaro. “I can finally practice medicine and help people, which is what I've been wanting to do for a very long time.”

“I’m super happy to be done and have time back with my family,” reflected Pariser. “It's a good program and I had some great clinical experiences in the Nurse Practitioner portion. I’m excited to start looking for jobs, and I’m not big rush, I have a job now as an RN; I’ll take the boards and then move on from there.”

“All the long nights, countless hours into studying and working hard has really paid off,” said DPT graduate Nancy Jin. “I’m excited for the future.”

So is DPT graduate Kayla Wong, who is finishing her internship at Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital in Charlestown with hopes of continuing in inpatient rehabilitation. 

“It’s been three years coming, and we've been studying long nights every day coming up to this moment, and it really feels surreal,” Wong summed up. “I cannot be prouder of myself and my fellow colleagues as we stand here today and all celebrate. It's such a great moment that we can share for this one last time as a group together before we disperse.”