For incoming UF College of Nursing students, the start of nursing school marks more than the beginning of a new academic chapter. It is the first step on the path toward becoming the nurses they hope to be.
During the college’s weeklong Traditional Bachelor of Science in Nursing Orientation, incoming students were asked to pause and think about that journey. They wrote notes to their future self, reflecting on who they are today, why they chose nursing and what they hope to carry with them through the program. They will get those notes back when they graduate.
Students also made a verbal commitment to uphold the college’s guiding principles, “To Learn, To Serve, To Lead,” before walking through an arch emblazoned with the same words in both English and Latin. The symbolic passage marked their transition from incoming students to Gator Nurse students as they embarked on their studies.
For students like Myra Lacue and Amner Montelongo, the experience offered an opportunity to look ahead while remembering what brought them to nursing in the first place.
A Letter to the Nurse she Hopes to Become
For Lacue, writing a note to her future self was a chance to capture her hopes and goals.
“I like the idea, because when you’re at the start of something, you don’t always think about how you got there,” she said. “It’ll be good to see what Myra thinks in two years about those hopes and goals developed in the program.”
She hopes that when she eventually opens the note, she will recognize the same passion that led her to nursing in the first place.
“I hope I still feel the same way and that I still have that drive afterward,” she said. “I know I will.”
Lacue’s desire to become a nurse is deeply personal. Her mother is a licensed practical nurse.
“I watched her and how she cared for others, and that inspired me to want to become a registered nurse,” she said.
Her mother was unable to continue her schooling, but her dream is for Lacue to get her BSN. It was a dream shared by Lacue’s late grandmother.
“I’m carrying that dream forward,” she said.
Originally from Fort Lauderdale, Lacue completed her first two years at UF before entering the nursing program. When she received her acceptance to the college, she was both thrilled and stunned.
“I was super happy. I was also really shocked,” she said.
She had been at an event with her sorority when she opened the email. While she wanted to celebrate without disrupting the event, once news spread, those around her began to cheer. She then found a quiet spot and called her mother.
“I wanted to cry,” she said.
Finding a New Direction
For Amner Montelongo, the path to nursing was less direct.
Originally planning to pursue medicine, Amner knew he wanted a career centered on helping people, but was unsure exactly where he belonged.
“I knew I wanted to help people, obviously, as everyone else here does,” he said. “I was really into science, patient-based care, all that. But I was struggling with figuring out what I wanted to do.”
A family member eventually arranged a shadowing opportunity in a hospital operating room for him.
He traveled to North Carolina, where he shadowed an anesthesiologist and Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists in the operating room. The experience changed his perspective.
“I saw what the CRNAs were doing, and I absolutely loved it,” he said. “They’re some of the best people I’ve ever met, and I really wanted to impact people in the same way.”
That experience helped Montelongo, who is from Pensacola, realize that nursing offered the combination of science, patient care and human connection he had been looking for.
He is already gaining experience working as a Certified Nursing Assistant at a nursing home in Gainesville and is looking ahead to a career in nursing, with hopes of eventually becoming a CRNA.
A Promise Before the Start
After writing their letters and signing their commitment pledges, the students gathered for one of the most symbolic moments of orientation.
One by one, the incoming Gator Nurse students walked through the arch, marking their transition into the College of Nursing community.
The tradition was introduced by Shakira Henderson DNP, MS, MPH, MBA, IBCLC, RNC-NIC,dean, chief administrative officer and Linda Harman Aiken Chair of the UF College of Nursing, as well as system chief nurse executive and associate vice president for nursing education, practice and research for UF Health, during a similar celebration for the incoming Accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing cohort in May.
For Lacue and Montelongo, walking through the arch represented more than simply the end of an orientation activity. It was a physical step into the profession they have worked toward and the future they hope for in their notes.