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Southwestern Michigan College May 6 welcomed 13 new nurses to America’s largest health care profession with more than 4.3 million registered nurses (RNs) nationwide.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projects a need for more than 200,000 new RNs each year to meet demand and replace retiring nurses.
SMC’s spring class received associate degrees in nursing (ADN) in a pinning ceremony in the theatre of the Dale A. Lyons Building on the Dowagiac campus.

In his welcome, President Dr. Klint Pleasant shared the harrowing story of his wife experiencing headaches diagnosed to be a malignant brain tumor and a nurse, Meg, he credits for saving Rachel’s life.

“I love and appreciate nurses very much,” Pleasant said. “Nurses and individuals who care for us medically are the best of the best in our society. In August 2005, my wife started to complain of a horrible headache. While we were waiting for the surgery to ensue, I went home one day from work to check on her and found her unresponsive. I thought she had passed.

“I feverishly called 911,” Pleasant said. “An ambulance took her to the hospital. In the emergency room, they quickly did a CAT scan. She had what is called a midline brain shift. There was so much swelling in her head, her brain shifted in her skull. You usually don’t survive those. The doctor said there was nothing he could do. She needed brain surgery right now. They were calling Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit to get her transferred.

“There was a nurse. Her name was Meg. Meg never left Rachel’s side. While we waited for Henry Ford to come get Rachel, Meg quite literally kept Rachel alive. When the ambulance showed up in the middle of the night, Rachel was just barely hanging on. The neurosurgeon flashed a light in Rachel’s eyes and they did not dilate. He goes, ‘We’re in real trouble.’

“They did a six-hour surgery, removing her skull to do a procedure and it’s touch and go.

“A few years after that,” he said, “I wanted to reconnect with Meg because I knew Meg was the reason she survived. Meg and I are still in touch.”

“While I’m grateful for the team of neurosurgeons, I’m most grateful for Meg,” Pleasant said. “You have a chance every day to change a life, to serve people, to come alongside, to love people, to care for someone and to not only make a difference in someone’s life, but an entire family’s lives. That’s the work you get to do. Nurses have made a difference in my life, and I hope you never forget the power you have. Thank you for choosing SMC.”

Dr. Melissa Kennedy, dean of the School of Nursing and Health Services,

addressed graduates employing nautical analogies.

“Tonight feels a bit like standing at the edge of a shoreline,” she said. “Behind you is a land that you’ve come to know, familiar, shaped by classrooms, clinicals, long nights and early mornings. Ahead of you is open water. Unpredictable and full of possibilities.

“In nursing, we spend so much time preparing you to navigate what cannot be fully controlled,” Kennedy said. “We teach you skills, knowledge, and critical thinking. There comes a time when you step forward and trust that what you carry within you will be enough to keep you steady. Graduates, tonight’s that moment.”

“You’re not leaving everything behind,” she said, “you’re carrying it with you — discipline, compassion, resilience — these are your anchors. But you’re also being asked to let go of the shoreline, to move into something that cannot be fully mastered in advance. That can feel both exciting and uncertain.

“Here’s what I’ve learned about standing at these edges, whether in nursing or in life,” Kennedy said. “There are moments when you can feel the tide begin to shift. It’s subtle at first, a quiet awareness that you are being pulled, gently but persistently, toward something new. Not because where you are has no value, but because you have grown within it. Sometimes growth asks something even harder of you, to walk away, to step out of roles, environments or expectations that no longer align with who you are becoming. When you do, not everyone will understand. Some may question you. Some may even try to rewrite your story. They may say you’re too emotional, too sensitive, too much. They may not see you clearly. They may even try to villainize you. Their confusion is not your failure. It’s simply that they do not carry what you carry. They do not have your love, the kind that stays, that listens, that shows up even when it’s hard. They do not have your compassion that sees humanity in every patient, every family, every moment. They do not have your empathy that allows you to connect beyond words. They do not have your grit, the strength to keep going when you’re exhausted, your guts, the courage to speak up, to advocate, to stand firm. Your selflessness, your self-awareness, your humility, your honor, your integrity. What they cannot understand they may try to diminish, but what you carry is not weakness, it is the very heart of a nurse. A meaningful life in nursing is not about standing still, it’s about learning when to hold steady and when to step deeper into the water.”

“You will be in spaces where people are at their most vulnerable,” Kennedy said, “and you will be present at moments of fear, hope, loss and healing. In those moments you may still feel the pull of uncertainty, but you will also feel something stronger, purpose. Purpose will steady you.”

Kennedy urged graduates to do three things: stay aware of the tides “around you and within you,” have the courage to step forward “when you feel called” and “trust that even in unfamiliar waters, you are prepared. It has been a privilege to stand alongside you on the shore. Congratulations, graduates, the water’s waiting.”

Graduates include: Tahiri Bakoliarmanana Kida from South Bend, Emilee Demski from Sodus, Grace Dockerty from Berrien Springs, Joshua Flanagan from Niles, Jeffery Haines from Cassopolis, Alyssa Haskins from Dowagiac, Emily Martin from Benton Harbor, Nadia Mata from South Haven, Meridith McWilliams from Marcellus, Jaime Meahl from Buchanan, Bailee Shambaugh from Mishawaka, Lindsey Smith from Dowagiac and Sarai Ugalde Pacheco from Hartford.

Nadia Mata was presented a Lamp of Knowledge in recognition of the peer-selected Florence Nightingale Award embodying selflessness, compassion, thoughtfulness, team play, dependability, generosity and humility.

SMC’s nursing faculty includes Chair Rona Goodrich, MSN, RN; Stacey Dwyer, MSN, RN; Rebecca Eichler-Toth, BSN, RN; Hazel Lim, MSN, RN; Haley Lowe, MSN, RN; Yolanda Roche, MSN, FNP, RN; adjuncts Megan Austin, DNP, MBA, RN; Lynn Behrens, BSN, RNC; Emily Burandt, BSN, RN; Brian Edgerly, BSN, RN; Jeanette Clark, BSN, RN; Allison Coleman, BSN, RN; Michelle Mercado, BSN, RN, NPD-BC; Jessica Pethick, BSN, RNC; Lisa Pulling, BSN, RNC; Emma Schroeder, MSN, RN; Donna Stiver, MSN, RN; and Alisa Ventrone, BSN, RN.

Mollie Grabemeyer is the nursing success and retention coach. Administrative assistant Victoria Christen coordinates the simulation lab.