When Alyssa Santoro, an incoming Traditional Bachelor of Science in Nursing student, signed up for a roommate-matching app, she had no idea it would match her with not one, but two fellow nursing students.
Santoro and one of her new roommates, Brianna Reynolds, met for the first time during the first day of the UF College of Nursing’s TBSN Orientation.
“We texted each other, and neither of us knew what the other looked like, so we just met in the hallway,” Reynolds said.
The two got to know each other better during the orientation.
“We had lunch together and got to talk more. It was good,” Santoro said.
The third roommate is attending another nursing school, but Santoro and Reynolds said they are happy to share an apartment with others focused on the same goal.
Although they have different backgrounds, they share a desire to care for others. Santoro hopes to become a pediatric nurse and work with children. Reynolds said nursing feels like a calling, shaped in part by her Christian faith and her family’s experiences. She was particularly inspired by her mother, who once wanted to become a nurse but was unable to attend school.
They also arrived at UF from different places and with different experiences. Santoro is from busy West Palm Beach, while Reynolds is from Molino, a small, rural town in the Florida Panhandle.
The pair are part of a cohort of 312 students, the largest class in the college’s history, that will begin classes this fall. This is also the first year that the college has held a multi-day, in-depth orientation for incoming TBSN students.
Students spent time with professors and staff, learned more about their upcoming courses, met peer mentors and received detailed guidance about everything from technology and program resources to the skills they will need to succeed. For students entering a demanding nursing program, that preparation was welcome.
“I think the detail-heavy presentations were really good,” Reynolds said, noting that nursing school will be challenging and complicated, and that having as much information as possible helps students prepare for what lies ahead.
The longer orientation schedule also offers a chance to better connect with their new classmates. Santoro knew a few people through previous classes and the Pre-Nursing Student Nursing Association. But Reynolds knew no one.
“Being here all day for several days gives you plenty of time to meet people and talk to a lot of different people. I’ve met some people that I think I will get along with,” Reynolds said.
Both agree that they are excited to get started.
“I just want to dive into it already,” Santoro said.
While their paths to UF Nursing may have been different, and their roommate arrangements may have started with a swipe on an app, what Santoro, Reynolds, and the rest of the cohort will experience during the next two years will forge friendships and relationships that will last a lifetime.