What year did you graduate from Burlington High School?
2008
Tell us about your accomplishments since graduating from BHS.
Since graduating I have completed cosmetology school and worked in the SE IA area before returning to school at Luther College in 2011 to study nursing. After graduating in 2015, I moved to Rochester, MN and started working as a Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Nurse at Mayo Clinic. I still love my job of 9 years!
In 2019, I decided to return to school and started a Doctoral Degree to gain the title of Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner. I now get to pour my passion for psychiatric nursing back into the profession by teaching! I started in 2023 as an assistant professor of nursing at Luther College teaching undergraduate nursing students both in the classroom and clinical settings.
During your time at BHS, did you have a favorite staff member who had a positive impact on you? Tell us about them.
Ms. Hawes, Mr. Murphy and many more. Hawes helped me see I wasn’t horrible at math, I just avoided the challenge. Pulling me in and guiding through Pre-Calc was a huge confidence booster. I learned a little math, but really, I learned that I can do hard things.
Do you have any advice for recent and future graduates?
It’s never too late. Find what you are passionate about and run with it! Along the way, be open to connection with others, even when it’s hard.