Valedictorian Speech

I'm still humbled by and in awe of this accomplishment. Not many people believed in me when I started nursing school, probably rightfully so. People will put us into boxes our whole life--do not let these constructs limit your potential or define you. Shine your light and don't shrink back for fear of judgment or ridicule. You're all amazing and should be proud of everything you've ever done; it has made you stronger and illuminated.

Valedictorian Speech

I wrote the ending of this speech first. When I pondered why, I realized that endings are easy, although they are bittersweet. We know where we have been; we have lived the experience; we remember. There is nostalgia, but there is no uncertainty with endings. Beginnings are harder because of anticipation; we don't know where the journey will lead us, we don't know what to expect, we cannot predict what is to come. When we started nursing school, we could not fill in the blanks of where we would be at the end. We had just hoped to make it there. And here we are—welcome to the very end of a chapter, and the beginning of a new journey.

We have many people to thank who have helped shape us along the way. Nursing school instructors, I believe, are of a different breed. From Nursing 110 to 311, each educator melded a passion for nursing with the patience of a teacher. While each instructor taught us vital knowledge, they also imparted us with something greater. Their words of passion taught us to take care of this career; professionalism, pride, and honor must follow us wherever we go. Their personal stories illuminated what it truly takes to be nurse; it is not just rudimentary memorization of pathologies, labs, and skills. We can explain a diagnosis to a patient, the intricate workings of our bodies and the ways it can fail, but if we do not show our patients compassion and support, we have insurmountably failed them as a human being. We have been continually reminded throughout nursing school that holding a patient’s hand, sitting with someone when they cry, and helping a patient to a dignified death are among the lessons that cannot be taught. Our teachers and our preceptors have inspired us to be our best selves when tough situations occur. Thank you for teaching us the invaluable lessons and knowledge we will need. Thank you for dealing with us, especially after exams when we would incessantly argue nursing rationales—some of those battles we won; most we did not. And thank you, most of all, for believing in us.

Our families and friends are the behind-the-scenes MVPs. Nursing school is no easy feat and rest assured, the people closest to us could attest to just how miserable it can make a person. You guys were often the brunt end of our frustration and anxiety. Though you had no clue what “r on t phenomena” is and had little interest in hearing the gruesome details of childbirth, especially during dinner, you still listened faithfully, if not a little pale. When stress levels were high, you had the foresight to drag us out to dinner or for a walk to keep our minds clear. You watched our children when we needed the extra hours of studying; I know how important this was to the parents of our group, as their children were their motivation to succeed. When we could not visualize this very moment, you reminded us of our purpose, our potential, our goals. If we disappeared for weeks on end, you understood and waited for us to resurface. You dried our eyes when we had a hard day and made us laugh to forget the stress. We thank you for understanding as best as you could, and we thank you for being our biggest supporters.  

I’d like to turn now and address my classmates. I think Abraham Lincoln said it best when he said: “Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed, is more important than any other one thing.” If I had chosen to believe every doubt, every label; I would not be standing here in front of you all today. If you had chosen to believe every doubt, every label, you would not be sitting here today, about to receive your nursing school pin. Instead, we chose to believe in ourselves. We chose to believe in each other. I am going to ask you to please stand. There is a yoga pose called ‘tadasana’, or ‘mountain pose’; stand with your feet together or slightly apart, raise your shoulders up and round them back and down, and allow your hands to gently hang by your side. Though it is a simple standing pose, there is much meaning I find within it.

Your feet are planted firmly on the ground, as your base, bearing your weight. We must always remember to stay grounded and to stay rooted in the foundation of knowledge and skills we've acquired. We raise our shoulders up and drop them back to open up the space where our heart beats. This reminds us to always follow our heart, learn to listen to our own needs and to do what we love. With our backs straight, the tops of our heads reaching for the sky, our feet firmly planted, and our legs strong... we find balance. We must always seek equilibrium within our lives. It is essential to balance work with play; we are not defined solely by our careers and accomplishments. And finally, we find stillness in this pose. Yet even as we are still, quiet, our bodies may continue to sway, or our muscles twitch, or our mind chatter. Our lives will become hectic, full of movement and chaos. We must find stillness, peace within the motion of life. And it is only with balance, an open heart, and a firm foundation that we are able to do so. You guys may sit.

Our class is an accumulation of many personalities. We do not have the same stories; we do not share the same past; we will not have the same future. I won’t share with you my reasons for becoming a nurse—you each have your own. But I will impart you with this last reflection.

If we were to strip away the material things of our life; if we were to remove our schooling, and our degrees, and our learned experiences; if we remove the titles we've accumulated and aim to gain--sibling, friend, spouse, child, parent, and soon—nurse, whatever labels we have etched into our persona...if these things were to disappear, we must ask ourselves what remains. What makes your heart beat? What allows your mind to view the world as a child, with wonder and awe? What makes your soul thrive? (This isn't a select all, I promise). There is something within each of us that will fill our life with joy and it will guide our practice as nurses if we allow it to shine. Perhaps it is compassion, or empathy, or justice; a need to help, a need to save, a need to heal. Whatever it is-- Listen to it. Follow it. It will keep you sane in the moments of chaos, and will aim your compass in the direction of your true north.

 To the June class of 2016--my friends, an amazing group of humans and a wonderful bunch of nurses to be--I congratulate you all, for your hard work and for the evolution we've all gone through over these oh so fun years. To quote one of the most intelligent teachers I've ever known, "You never know how much you don't know until you graduate."  Let's go out there, with passion, with conviction, with the stuff our souls are made of, and show them what we DO know!