Nursing Reunion

Back in April, I had the opportunity to go down to Provo for the 60^th Anniversary of the BYU Nursing Program. It was an all-day affair, and included lectures, campus tours, reunions, and food.

The morning started off with speakers talking about the  legacy of the nursing program, as well as the future of nursing. We were also served a nice lunch, where I was reminded that everything at BYU starts with a prayer. It took me a while to figure out why we weren’t just digging into our food. (The blessing had not been said yet.)

I kind of thought it was silly to go on a campus tour, but everything I went to was new to me. The highlight of the tours was the Student Athlete Building. Despite the fact that it was open for four of my five years of college, I had never made the time to go inside (too much time spent in the library). An added bonus was that the tour guides seemed to know everybody, as well as how to get to places that I highly doubt are part of the normal tour. We even got to see Bronco Mendenhall’s office, which was decorated with pictures drawn by his kids. (Side note: When I googled his name to see how to spell it, I discovered that he has his own Wikipedia page.) Unfortunately, Bronco wasn’t there, but it was kind of weird to see Brandon Doman in person as a poster of him graced my dorm room wall. (My football obsessed roommate was a huge fan.)

Later we had the opportunity to meet up with our classmates in a “decade” reunion. While there were only five girls (including me) from our semester, it was fun to catch up with them. Plus, I was able to see my roommate Shannon, her husband Jared, and their son Tian. That was a nice added bonus.

After spending time with our classmates, we were treated to a banquet and a speech from one of the past deans, who was hilarious. Overall, I am glad I went. It was fun to see old friends and meet new ones. Plus, it provided me with the motivation to decide to take the insane leap and go back to graduate school. Being around all of these accomplished nurses helped me reevaluate where I was in my career and decide on some new goals. So starting in August (barring a major bombing of my MAT test) I will be enrolled in Gonzaga University’s Nurse Educator MSN program for the next 2+ years. I am still trying to decide if I am totally crazy, but I think overall it will be good for me in many ways, if I survive.

Here are some pictures of my day back at BYU. Kevin had our nice camera, so I was stuck with my old Canon. Plus, I had a headache and wasn’t too keen on carrying a bunch of stuff around campus, so regrettably my camera spent most of the day in my trunk. Sorry, no pictures of the Student Athlete Building.

The plates at the banquet. I think there was a glass paperweight in the box.

Happy Daffodils. 

I really need to plant some of these in are yard. I really like them.

Those of us from my semester (Winter 2008) who attended the banquet.

From L-R: Christie, Alicia, Emily, Katie, and Megan