Pinning Ceremony

It is tradition in nursing for nurses to be pinned upon completion of their degree. It is a very special ceremony during which each graduate chooses another Registered Nurse to pin them. Tonight's ceremony was very nice. The distance BSN students (my class) shared the ceremony with the newly graduating Associate Degree students, which made the evening even more fun. The new graduates were so excited and their energy was contagious.

We were lined up to walk in to begin the ceremony when the Nursing Department Chair came over to our little group. We immediately thought we were in trouble for being too loud, as we had become quite the rowdy little posse, since we just now finally got to see what each other really looked like having only exchanged emails and chatted on-line for the past two years. So in the middle of hugs and laughing, Dr. Preston came over and sheepishly admitted to forgetting to ask a BSN student to be prepared to speak on behalf of the BSN students. My friend Farina volunteered me to represent the class. I was very nervous, but very flattered. However, I had nothing prepared.

I was sure to thank God for taking us all as through the program, and I thanked the staff for their patience with each of us especially when we encountered technical difficulties. I thanked our families for their support and apologized for the many times there may have been laundry not done or no dinner cooked because we were busy with our school work. I thanked the group of Distance BSN students for supporting each other through prayers and on-line study groups. And finally I congratulated the Associate Degree Nurses and welcomed them to our world of nursing. I didn't do too bad for not knowing about this ahead of time. And not having a pen to make any notes while I was sitting there waiting to speak.

I'm the one in pink with darker hair, beside my friend from Oregon, Julie, who also is wearing pink. The new grads had to wear all whites, and the returning students were allowed to wear street clothes.

I ran into so many people that I had not seen for years. In fact, a few of my previous instructors are still at the college, and I was honored to have one of them pin me. I was so glad to run into her, we laughed about the amount of times she made me cry during clinicals. They don't call her Rambo for nothing.

Here is a picture of Carolyn (Rambo) Ramsey and me after she pinned me.