(gentle music) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) (audience applauding) (audience cheering) (audience applauding) (audience cheering) (audience applauding) (audience cheering) (audience cheering continues) (audience applauding) (audience cheering) - Welcome, welcome.

As the Dean of the College of Nursing, I am pleased to welcome you to the College of Nursing Spring 2024 commencement and pinning ceremony.

Would everyone please stay standing or stand as you're able for the "Star Spangled Banner" performed by the Lansing Concert Band and our very own soloist, Kathy Forest.

♪ O say can you see ♪ ♪ By the dawn's early light ♪ ♪ What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming ♪ ♪ Whose broad stripes and bright stars ♪ ♪ Through the perilous fight ♪ ♪ O'er the ramparts we watched ♪ ♪ Were so gallantly streaming ♪ ♪ And the rockets' red glare ♪ ♪ The bombs bursting in air ♪ ♪ Gave proof through the night ♪ ♪ That our flag was still there ♪ ♪ O say does that star-spangled banner yet wave ♪ ♪ O'er the land of the free ♪ ♪ And the home of the brave ♪ (audience applauding) - Thank you.

Please be seated.

We are so happy that you all are here.

I'd like to extend a special welcome to all of the family and friends of our graduates.

As members of our student support network, you play a pivotal role in their success.

We cannot thank you enough for the support and encouragement you have provided for these incredible students.

Today we celebrate the graduates of the traditional Baccalaureate of Science in Nursing program and the RN to BS program.

Each of these 80 students has completed a rigorous didactic and clinical coursework to meet the requirements for the Bachelor of Science in Nursing.

We are incredibly proud that each of these graduates has chosen the nursing profession and are exceptionally proud to have these individuals represent Michigan State University.

They are part of a 74 year tradition of Spartan nurses who have contributed to improving healthcare worldwide.

Nursing is listed as the eighth most challenging degree of a baccalaureate degree, excuse me, to achieve in the United States and in the top 10 globally.

And you all have done it.

(audience applauding) (audience cheering) A significant amount of press covers nursing burnout among other negative portrayals of nursing.

We have offered several resiliency and self-care strategies with great care throughout your program.

Please use them.

Take care of yourself and remember your why.

Why you became a nurse in the first place.

That why has been your passion and has driven you to complete this academic program and hold your why close to your heart and reflect on it frequently because this will reenergize and refresh your caring and compassion spirit, so that your nursing practice will be impactful.

Graduation is an exciting time because it marks a significant accomplishment in individual lives and represents both an end but a fabulous beginning.

These graduates are starting a career that for 22 consecutive years has been identified by Americans as one of the most essential and trusted healthcare professions.

This is likely because nurses are with individuals during every critical and personal life passage.

Everyone in this room has had experience where expert nursing care was necessary for themselves or a loved one.

Our graduates know what high quality care is and they are very well prepared to provide it.

We are proud of all of you and will enthusiastically follow your careers, so stay on LinkedIn, that was an ad lib.

Class of 2024, we are confident that you all will be nurse leaders of the future, the faculty and I look forward to our new relationship with you as colleagues and we hope that you will share your future successes with us, which many of you will have many successes.

(audience applauding) The entire college of nursing community is celebrating these graduates.

Importantly our faculty, could you stand up?

(audience applauding) They have individually and collectively contributed to each individual and group success of this graduating cohort of students.

Additionally, they have contributed to nursing profession as a whole.

I would like to recognize the college faculty for their dedication, extraordinary efforts.

Every semester with this cohort has offered unique challenges and a great deal of uncertainty for the last several years.

However, they have adapted quickly while prioritizing and meeting the needs of our students.

Not only in the classrooms, but in simulation and clinical.

I cannot thank them enough for their hard work and dedication through these years and I invite you all to thank them again as well.

(audience applauding) It also gives me great pleasure to publicly recognize our outstanding college of nursing staff.

Wherever you are, can you hold your hands up?

You can come out a little bit and chill bit.

(audience laughing) They won't come out, but they're back there.

(audience laughing) Their hard work steadfastly supports our faculty and contributes to the success of our students on their educational journey.

They provide exceptional dedicated service to our college community and I wanna thank them as well even though they won't come out.

(audience applauding) I'd also like to welcome and thank Dr. Thomas Jeitschko, interim provost and executive vice presidents for academic affairs for joining us today.

We are honored to have you here today and recognize and celebrate our newest Spartan nurses.

(audience applauding) And I wanna offer a special welcome and thank you to Dr.

Norm Beauchamp, executive vice president for the health sciences for joining us today.

His passion for serving the underserved, expanding access to high quality healthcare and futuristic vision for the profession of nursing makes him a staunch advocate of our college, our college community, all our nursing students and alums and all professional nurses.

So thank you Dr. Beauchamp.

(audience applauding) Now we reach a time in our program where we introduce the keynote speaker.

It's an honor and a privilege to introduce our keynote speaker this morning.

You may have noticed that on your agendas for today, the keynote speaker is not named, that's because it's a little surprise.

So our very own Carol Vermeesch is our keynote speaker.

(audience applauding) Carol earned her bachelor of science in nursing from Mercy College in Detroit, Michigan, and a master of science in nursing from Wayne State University, Michigan.

She began her career as a staff nurse at the Detroit Medical Center on the neurology neurosurgery unit and then transitioned to medical intensive care.

She has taught at Oakland University, Wayne State University.

Then she got smart and then she moved to New Mexico for a little while.

I do have to say that.

For three years she volunteered with different organizations and in 1996 she moved back to Michigan and settled in East Lansing and began teaching at Michigan State University College of Nursing.

And I know not everybody can see, but all of you raise your hands, who interacted with Carol Vermeesch?

That's what she's done.

(audience applauding) She's been involved in curriculum interprofessional education work groups and is the faculty consultant to the Student Advisory council.

In 2015, Carol was recognized by the Lansing State Journal with the Nursing education award and Nurse of the Year award.

Carol and her husband Joseph have funded the MSU College of Nursing, Vermeesch Regnier Endowed Scholarship to support the education of future nurses.

And for those of you who may not know, Carol is transitioning to the next phase of her life, her retirement.

Although we will miss her dearly, we wish her all the best as she pursues her passions in life, particularly her grandchildren, right?

- Six.

- Besides nursing education, Carol's focus has always been on her family.

Carol and her husband love to travel and spend time with family and friends.

She loves baking, especially championship skill splits cookies and spoiling her six grandchildren.

So again, please join me in welcoming our wonderful colleague and friend, Carol Vermeesch.

(audience applauding) - Thank you.

Thank you and good morning Dean Small, Provost Jeitschko, executive vice president Beauchamp college and nursing administration, faculty, staff, family and friends, and most importantly, the spring 2024 College of Nursing BSN graduates.

It's my humble honor to be here to address this class on such a momentous day.

The pride in this room is palpable.

You like how I tried really hard to get that physical assessment term in there so you would never forget nursing 205.

It is palpable.

Graduates, you should be so proud of all that you've accomplished as well as what the person sitting next to you, behind you, down the row from you has accomplished.

I know the platform party feels that pride in your family and friends that are here with you also.

You've completed a demanding program and persevered during a global pandemic and the tragedy that affected our beloved MSU campus in February, 2023.

I know it hasn't been easy managing all those classes, labs, clinical rotations along with everything else that happened in your life, but your persistence has culminated in this outstanding celebration.

As you begin your careers, I challenge you to always remember the importance, respect, plays in your practice.

Respect is a critical part of the ANA code of ethics and it's easy to say we treat each other with respect, but I know none of us are perfect a hundred percent of the time.

I try and often remind myself of a quote by the Scottish writer Ian Maclaren that states, be kind for everyone you meet is fighting a battle.

When I look back and reflect on my years in nursing, I remember a great learning experience regarding this.

Many years ago I was working in a medical intensive care unit and I was starting my shift as a fairly new charge nurse that day.

Back then, we had these individual modules to add to a patient's telemetry or heart monitor in order to monitor other invasive lines such as pulmonary artery catheters, arterial lines, intracranial pressure monitors, things like that.

And so you could remove or add a module or unit depending on how many the patient needed.

We had a patient who had been in the unit for a few days.

He was on a ventilator with medications and multiple invasive lines.

And after three or four days, it was obvious that even with our extraordinary measures, this patient was still deteriorating.

His family decided to have his care changed to comfort measures only and they were at his bedside.

As I came to get report, I was told we were getting a patient transfer who would need invasive lines inserted and we didn't have enough of those modules or units.

Another nurse had gone in to take one of the modules from the patient whose care has been changed to comfort measures since we weren't managing his treatment based on the information we were getting from those lines.

But the family became upset because they believed that we weren't continuing to care for that patient by removing one of his monitors.

The family was very emotional with every right to be so and no explanation gave them any comfort, so the nurse had left the module and the patient.

So again, I was new.

I just wanna say that I was fairly and so I told the nurse that I was getting report for that.

I would just go in and tell the family that we were gonna take one of the modules.

Are y'all shaking your head now?

I was like, no, no, no.

Thank goodness my manager overheard what I had planned to do and asked me just to take a minute and think about what I had said.

All I had to do was think about what that family was going through, the battle they were fighting and be respectful.

My quick decision would've only made the situation worse by causing the family to be a more upset during their loved one's end of life.

I realized we could look into other alternatives and borrowing a module from another unit and not cause that family any more grief again, no one's perfect, and that experience made me very humble and reminded me that we should always respect one another.

In my opinion, the profession of nursing is unsurpassed, but it's also stressful.

There will be highs, there'll be lows.

You may question your choice of profession during those low times, but be patient and wait for that next time you make a difference in the life of your patient, whether that be a patient, a family, a community.

I would be remiss if I didn't talk about wellbeing and resilience.

We deal in a profession where we know there's a connection with mind, body, and soul.

I hope you approach every patient with respect as a unique being.

But to do this, you also need to take care of yourselves.

You will need to be resilient and remember what you've learned about self-care and wellness and practice that, and find that balance and create a life that's all your own.

In closing, there's a quote I wanna share with you by Ursula Le Guin.

It goes, it's good to have an end to journey toward, but it's that journey that matters in the end.

It was a 50/50 if I were gonna get through this part without crying, but I'm blessed to have had you as part of my journey.

Thank you again for this tremendous honor and congratulations class of 2024 go green.

- [Students] Go white.

(audience applauding) - You can tell we love Carol and we're gonna miss her a lot.

Thank you Carol.

A prominent moment in the life of any nurse is the pinning ceremony.

We are proud to continue that tradition today with our spring 2024 graduates and again, continue our 74 year tradition here at MSU.

This ceremony provides the opportunity to recognize each graduate individually and carry out a special and time honored ritual in the profession of nursing.

The Michigan State University pin is very unique to our College of Nursing and in some places patients actually recognize that and see Spartan Nurses as providing the best care.

The Michigan, oh, I already said that, sorry.

And it signifies a special status of our graduates.

The pins our graduates received today were a generous donation from alumni and friends of the College of Nursing who participated in the Pins Pales program.

This program supports the cost associated with pinning our BSN graduates, while linking donors to our nurses, our newest Spartan nurses in a very unique and significant way.

Professor Carol Vermeesch, Dr. Michael Martel and Dr. Crista Reaves, Faculty of the College of Nursing will have the honor of pinning each of our graduates today.

At this time with the candidates, please follow the direction of Christy Stehouwer academic advisor.

I can't see Christy where you are.

Oh, she's over there.

Please be seated once you have crossed the stage and your picture has been taken.

We now welcome Jessica Knerr, assistant director of student affairs to the microphone to announce the graduates as they walk across the stage.

- Mabel Elizabeth Phillips.

(audience applauding) Caleb Brian Fraser.

(audience applauding) Kara O'Day.

(audience applauding) Carolyn Marie Peters with honors.

(audience cheering) (audience applauding) David Wray Krohn with high honors.

(audience applauding) Emily Lauren Evers.

(audience applauding (audience cheering) ) Kelsea Ann Miller.

(audience applauding) Emily Ann Schaaf.

(audience applauding) Alex Hoffman.

(audience applauding) Brooklyn Kate Lloyd.

(audience applauding) (audience cheering) Claire Marie Flory.

(audience applauding) Sunday Belle Quillen.

(audience applauding) Rachel Huisman with honors.

(audience applauding) Riley Kischnick.

(audience applauding) Anna Opiteck.

(audience applauding) (audience cheering) Madelyn Sleder.

(audience applauding) Kaylyn Whitten.

(audience applauding) Claire Sprick.

(audience applauding) (audience cheering) Alexis Nicole Martin.

(audience applauding) Will Condra Downey.

(audience applauding) Marco Robert Munoz.

(audience applauding) Lauren Alexis Crandall with honors.

(audience applauding) Jillian Nicole Smith.

(audience applauding) Eunjin Jeong with high honors.

(audience applauding) Kristina Bogojevski.

(audience applauding) Sophie Diana Leiendecker with honors.

(audience applauding) Soniya Kaur Sarau.

(audience applauding) (audience cheering) Loveleen Kaur with honors.

(audience applauding) (audience cheering) Angela Pjetrushaj.

(audience applauding) (audience cheering) Caroline Alexander with honors.

(audience applauding) Lillian Grace Smith with honors.

(audience applauding) (audience cheering) Taylor Nitz.

(audience applauding) Hannah Huber with honors.

(audience applauding) Bella Christine Vogt.

(audience applauding) Angela Maria Davis.

(audience applauding) Lorynn Sue Cotts.

(audience applauding) Brooke Parsons.

(audience applauding) (audience cheering) Hannah Kulp.

(audience cheering) (audience applauding) Anna McGowan.

(audience cheering) (audience applauding) Bailee Madison Ford.

(audience cheering) (audience applauding) Emily Rose Berner with honors.

(audience applauding) Brenna Gordon.

(audience applauding) Rebecca Danielle Alfano.

(audience cheering) (audience applauding) Tattiyanna George.

(audience applauding) Tyler Jacob Davey.

(audience cheering) (audience applauding) Christopher Pohl.

(audience applauding) Paisley Cait MacKay.

(audience cheering) (audience applauding) Sophie Delahaye.

(audience cheering) (audience applauding) Jillian Marie Maksymiuk.

(audience cheering) (audience applauding) Kaylee Elizabeth Hopkins.

(audience cheering) (audience applauding) Emily Marie Bahu with honors.

(audience cheering) (audience applauding) Anja Andrews Jacobson.

(audience cheering) (audience applauding) Grace Maren Richardson.

(audience applauding) Celeste Amber Sarzynski.

(audience applauding) Kristin Luu.

(audience cheering) (audience applauding) Caitlin Paquette Mather.

(audience cheering) (audience applauding) Lexi Marie Salazar.

(audience applauding) Ariel (indistinct) Milong.

(audience cheering) (audience applauding) Shelly Pham.

(audience cheering) (audience applauding) Rebecca Lynn Weisberg.

(audience applauding) Savanah Chahine with honors.

(audience cheering) (audience applauding) Brienna Marie Anderson.

(audience cheering) (audience applauding) Siobhan May Perini.

(audience cheering) (audience applauding) Grace Kathryn Lacamera.

(audience cheering) (audience applauding) Alyssa Marie Lollo.

(audience applauding) Madeleine Clare Castillo.

(audience cheering) (audience applauding) Chloe Elizabeth Burke.

(audience cheering) (audience applauding) Ava Elaina Gordon.

(audience cheering) (audience applauding) Emily Elizabeth Moore.

(audience cheering) (audience applauding) Paige Elizabeth Vandermeer.

(audience applauding) Julia Sharon Zaretti with high honors.

(audience cheering) (audience applauding) Sydney Rae Suth.

(audience applauding) Kiran Mangar.

(audience cheering) (audience applauding) Zaire Richardson.

(audience cheering) (audience applauding) Brianna Johns.

(audience cheering) (audience applauding) Rekayla Renee Todd.

(audience cheering) (audience applauding) Nia Buchanan.

(audience cheering) (audience applauding) Patrick Myles Byrne.

(audience applauding) Kyle James Murney.

(audience cheering) (audience applauding) (audience applauding) (audience cheering) - All set.

They're taking pictures over there.

All right, well this is the moment that you all have been waiting for.

So will the baccalaureate candidates please rise.

(audience applauding) (audience cheering) On behalf of the university president who has delegated to me the authority of the state of Michigan vested in the board of trustees, I confer upon all of you the degrees to which you have been recommended with all rights and distinctions to which they entitle you and this is the moment.

According to customs, you may now move your tassels from the right side of your cap to the left.

Please join me.

(cheering) (audience applauding) (audience cheering) Please be seated.

Isn't that a great feeling?

- Yes.

- My congratulations to all our graduates.

This ceremony represents the culmination of an educational journey in the beginning of a lifetime of service.

It is an achievement worthy of celebration and we are here this morning to celebrate each one of you.

This semester, you completed the academic program requirements for this challenging study for the Baccalaureate of Science and Nursing, and we applaud you for your hard work commitment and dedication.

I hope you wear your pin with great pride and know forever that you will be part of the College of Nursing at Michigan State University.

Let's give them another round of applause.

(audience applauding) (audience cheering) And now will Dr. Kathy Poindexter, the assistant dean for the undergraduate programs, please come forward and recognize members of the graduating class who have gone above and beyond inside and outside the classroom.

- Thank you, Dean Small.

I always say I get one of the best parts of the program, but I do wanna recognize that every one of 'em, every single person there has just been awarded the highest possible privilege to provide care for patients' lives every single day.

And as Dean Small had said, this is one of the most difficult, challenging baccalaureate degrees ever, and I cannot attest to the transformational process that every one of you have gone through from the day that you walked into this college to the professionals that you are leaving today.

You are not who you were when you walked in and we are so proud of all of you today.

So for right now, I wanna say thank you Dean Small.

Spartan nurses demonstrate exemplary leadership in the classroom and the professional community.

And I wanna take this opportunity to recognize and honor those students who have exhibited extraordinary commitment to service and to scholarship.

First, we would like to recognize our commissioned officers, those members of the senior class who will be commissioned as officers following graduation.

Please join me in recognizing Caitlin Mather and Emily Evers, who will be commissioned officers in the United States Army.

Caitlyn and Emily, please stand up and be honored.

(audience cheering) (audience applauding) The program that they go through in addition to our nursing program just never ceases to amaze me.

Every semester we pay tribute to graduates who completed their academic program successfully and were recognized by peers and faculty for their exceptional academic achievements.

The selection of the outstanding student award recipient is based on educational leadership, scholarship and clinical practice.

Students are nominated by faculty and students and selected by the undergraduate program committees.

We are proud to honor Mabel Phillips from the traditional Baccalaureate of Science and Nursing Program, and the outstanding student for her class.

Mabel, will you please stand, so that you can be congratulated by all of us?

(audience applauding) (audience cheering) The Michigan State University Board of Trustees recognizes graduates with the highest scholastic average from every graduating class.

All recipients had a 4.0 GPA at the close of the fall semester of 2023.

This semester, the board recognized 271 students from across the university with the Board of Trustees Award.

This semester, the College of Nursing students, the two awardees are Indian Jong and Julia Zaretti, graduates of the traditional Baccalaureate of Science and Nursing well recognized.

(audience applauding) (audience applauding) Could you two stand so that we could, alright.

Yeah, yeah, go.

(audience applauding) (audience cheering) That is a phenomenal accomplishment.

Congratulations.

The Spirit Award recognizes students who've inspired their classmates and fostered positive energy in the classroom.

The class of 2024 selected Caleb Fraser to receive this year's award.

Caleb represented the college as the banner carrier for the university convocation ceremony yesterday.

Please join me in congratulating Caleb in thanking him for his exemplary spirit.

Caleb, once again, will you please stand and be recognized?

(audience applauding) (audience cheering) Okay.

There are other graduates that we wanna recognize today too, so students please stand when it is appropriate.

The journey of becoming a Spartan nurse is challenging and multifaceted and I don't have to tell all of you that.

Thankfully, our students benefit from the experience and counsel of peer mentors.

Peer mentors are available to advise students on everything from elective recommendations, TBSN applications, tutoring resources, internships and learning work life balance.

Peer mentors understand the challenges of being a Spartan nursing student.

Let us show our appreciation for their mentorship.

With representatives from the Peer Mentor Program, please stand and be recognized.

(audience applauding) Students with grade point averages between 3.97 and 4.0 are awarded university high honor.

In addition, the university high Honor is awarded to students who have earned grade point averages between 3.88 and 3.97.

Gold Honor cords are designated for both honors will all students graduating with honor and high honor, please stand and accept our congratulations.

(audience cheering) (audience applauding) Again congratulations.

Students who fulfill the requirements of the Honors College by completing enriched programs of study are wearing white stoles with the HC designation.

Will all students graduating as members of the Honors College, please stand and be recognized.

(audience cheering) (audience applauding) Thank you.

Next, I want to acknowledge the students participating in our access and our nurse scholars programs.

These two exceptional programs operate under the umbrella of the College of Nursing's Office of Students Affairs, newly established Student Success and Retention Unit.

The initiative is dedicated to empowering students from diverse backgrounds, fostering academic excellence and molding individuals into competent, well-rounded and compassionate nurses.

These nurses will thrive and make positive contributions to the nursing profession.

Will all students in Access and a Nurse Scholars program please stand and be recognized?

(audience cheering) (audience applauding) Nursing students at all levels can represent their classmates on the Student Advisory Council.

In addition to student Advisory Council advisees, our administrators and faculty on curriculum and student needs, while the graduates who have served on the Student Advisory Council, please stand to be recognized.

(audience applauding) And we appreciate all your voices in your representation of all your student peers.

Students who participate in the nursing student association are dedicated to ongoing professional development.

Members of this organization participate in service projects and continuous leadership training to grow as a student and a professional in nursing.

Will members of the National Student Association please stand and be recognized?

(audience applauding) I think the majority of our student body sitting there demonstrate leadership across multiple roles.

And again, we're very proud of all of you and I congratulate every one of you.

Thank you.

(audience applauding) I like to welcome Dr. (indistinct).

- Thank you Dr. Poindexter.

As a public research intensive land grant university, Michigan State advances knowledge by conducting high caliber research that seeks to answer questions and create solutions to make a difference, positive difference locally and globally.

As such, the university is considered a Carnegie Foundation, R1 Research Intensive University, something as the associate dean for research that I'm so grateful for and so thankful that we have the opportunity to be part of that.

At the College of Nursing, we believe in the power of research to have a lasting effect that will enhance nursing science, strengthen nursing care practices, and improve health outcomes in our communities and all of our communities.

Faculty in the College of Nursing and across the campus are committed to addressing today's most pressing health challenges.

We also seek to share these in the classroom and through collaborative opportunities with faculty, allowing our graduates to grow as learners and critical thinkers who will advance nursing science.

At this time, I want to acknowledge our undergraduate research assistants.

It is a pleasure to see undergraduate students taking advantage of opportunities to participate in our faculty research projects.

Students in the undergraduate research program gain valuable experience as part of a research team preparing for graduate school and preparing them to pursue a doctorate in nursing.

So if you thought you were done, not quite yet.

Will those who have served in undergraduate research assistant roles please stand to be recognized.

Incredible, that is incredible.

It's amazing.

(audience applauding) (audience cheering) That is great to see.

Thank you.

To all of our graduates, I encourage you to stay abreast of the research evidence, be engaged in research, and allow yourself to be curious as you move forward in your career.

Congratulations to all of you.

(audience applauding) - Now I am pleased to introduce our student speaker, Mabel Phillips.

Mabel comes, that's okay, you can do that.

(audience cheering) (audience applauding) Mabel comes from South Lyon, Michigan.

She chose to pursue nursing because she believes it is an honor to care for people in their most vulnerable times of their lives.

She wants to be the person to comfort, advocate and care for patients during challenging times so none of her patients ever feel like they are just a number.

Mabel is the current president of this nursing student association, a student advisory council representative and a member of the graduate program committee.

After graduation, she accepted a dream job as a nurse in the level four neonatal intensive care unit at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota.

Quite an honor.

Please join me in welcoming Mabel.

(audience cheering) (audience applauding) - Good morning everyone.

It is truly an honor to stand before you today on such a special occasion.

First and foremost, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to the dean, associate dean, faculty, director of student affairs, family, friends, and loved ones gathered here today.

Nursing school has surely been no simple task and without your unwavering support and guidance, we certainly would not be here today.

We are endlessly grateful for each and every one of you.

And to my fellow graduates, congratulations.

We did it, finally.

We survived the grueling eight hour lecture days.

The torturous 4:00 AM wake ups and those hour long drives to clinicals.

Doesn't it feel like just yesterday we thought our lives were over because of the infamous one through 40.

(audience laughing) Or when we trembled at the thought of walking into a patient's room for the first time at 7:00 AM absolutely terrified to even just wake them up to do an assessment.

Flash forward to now, I mean, look at where we are.

We went from reciting the skin is moist and warm to the touch in our sleep to now hearing the sound of imaginary call lights going off in our heads and took a minute, but we finally know what to do when a patient is in v-tach with no pulse.

Hint, it is not defibrillation.

I'm just kidding, Chasity.

I'm just kidding.

She made sure we wouldn't forget that one.

And I know that on tough days at the hospital, we may find ourselves missing the long walks into the bot building in the pouring rain at 7:50 in the morning.

Well, maybe not that, but I will miss you all dearly.

For many of us, our journey at MSU began with each other.

Not having the ability to live on campus in the dorms as freshmen, or meet friends in class definitely made for an abnormal college experience start to our college experience.

However, when I look back at it, I'm not sure I would've wanted it any other way.

Little did I know when I walked into our first day of 205, I was about to meet the people who would become my second family for the next three years, the people I would be spamming at 2:00 AM with questions about EKG strips or desperately trying to understand metabolic acidosis for the 50th time.

On a deeper, more serious note, I truly believe that our cohort is uniquely special.

We have experienced things throughout our time at MSU that only we share with one another.

We decided to pursue nursing during a time of immense uncertainty and went on to face many hardships throughout our time at MSU, which I'm sure we're all aware of.

However, we are all here today, which means we persevered.

And while these challenges do not define us, they are a part of our story.

Today may seem like the end of a chapter, but it really is just the beginning.

As we embark on our nursing careers, we will be challenged.

We will have bad days or nights.

However, I challenge you to never lose sight of the resilience and determination you all have demonstrated over the past three years.

When it's difficult to wake up for a shift, I urge you to remind yourself of the lives each of you have touched over the last few years, whether that was at clinical, an internship, or a work shift.

You will continue to touch the lives of others if you remind yourself why you started and of the impact you've made along the way.

Remember the blood, sweat and tears you put into your degree that you just received as you walked to the stage today.

As we all know, working in healthcare is not easy, but the only way to get through it is to focus on the meaningful times with patients and your support system.

The support system you made it clinical and in the Bott building will still be there when you are coming home from a long and trying shift.

We are all still only one call away.

I have no doubt in my mind that all of you will flourish in your careers and continue to transform the nursing field in the most impactful ways.

If there is any group of nursing students that are more equipped to endure the challenges that being a nurse brings, it is each and every single one of you.

And the most important reminder, never forget airway, breathing, circulation.

Thank you.

(audience cheering) (audience applauding) - Mabel that was an excellent reminder of an expression.

I heard one time that I think is really important for all of our graduates to hear.

You've done what some people call impossible, but remember impossible is just somebody's opinion, so everything is possible for you.

Dr. Mary Kay Smith will come forward at this time.

President of Alpha Psi chapter of Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society for nursing and offer her remarks.

(audience applauding) - Thank you, Dean Small.

Good morning.

As the current president of the Alpha Psi chapter of Sigma Theta Tau International, I would like to congratulate the graduates and welcome you to the wonderful profession of nursing.

For those of you who may not be familiar with Sigma Theta Tau, it was founded in 1922 by six nursing students at Indiana University with the Alpha Psi chapter at MSU being established in 1969.

It is now one of the largest professional organizations in the world consisting of over 100,000 members, including clinical nurses, administrators, academic nurse educators, researchers, policymakers, entrepreneurs, and others to fulfill the organization's vision of connected empowered nurse leaders transforming global healthcare.

The Sigma Theta Tau organizational call to action asks us to represent as we commit to a caring culture, cultivate cultural humility and champion contemporary practice.

Considering the global footprint of nursing and the fact that it is the most trusted profession, we are well positioned to accomplish this.

The next decade is certain to be exciting.

You'll be tested by the continued aftermath of the pandemic inequities in healthcare, chronic health conditions, the silver tsunami, migration of nursing, the list goes on.

As nurse leaders, it is important for you to represent your unique self and participate in collective change in our shared world.

It is your time to influence a future that is different from today.

You are Spartan nurses, you will undoubtedly represent.

Membership to the Alpha Psi chapter at MSU is open to students of nursing baccalaureate programs, nursing graduate study programs, and community leaders meeting eligibility requirements.

For those of you who are graduating and not yet a member, please consider reaching out to Alpha Psi or your local chapter, wherever that may be, to join the esteemed community of leaders.

In closing, I would like to take this opportunity to recognize the 2024 Sigma Theta Tau inductees.

Please stand.

(audience applauding) (audience cheering) Amazing.

Congratulations.

Purple goes so well with green, doesn't it?

These new members of Sigma Theta Tau International are identified today as they wear purple and white honor cords.

I would also like to ask all members of the Alpha Psi chapter of Sigma Theta Tau in addition to members of other chapters, whether on the stage or out in our audience.

Please stand.

(audience applauding) (audience cheering) This is wonderful.

Wonderful.

Congratulations again.

Go forth and represent.

(audience applauding) - Thank you Dr. Smith.

The College of Nursing Alumni Association would like to offer their congratulations to our graduates.

Dr. Kimberlee Jones, a member of the Nursing Alumni Association and a doctorate of nursing practice in Adult-Gerontological Clinical Nurse Specialists graduate will now offer her remarks to you.

Please join me in welcoming Dr. Jones.

(audience applauding) - Good morning.

I'm here today on behalf of the Michigan State University Alumni Association, including the College of Nursing Alumni Board to offer our sincerest congratulations on your amazing achievement.

Over 8,000 graduates have come before you and welcome you to the Spartan nurse family.

I'd like to take a moment to acknowledge other Spartan nurses who are present today.

So if you're a graduate from the College of Nursing, please stand and be recognized.

(audience applauding) Thank you.

Today, you shine.

You have within you the best preparation, knowledge and compassionate for patients.

We know this to be true because you've done all that's required of you, the many exams, the physical assessments, the clinical hours, the dreaded one through 40 and so much more.

You have studied hard and proven your ability to be the professional nurses that make MSU so very proud.

And you've also been gifted with a legacy of excellence from the College of Nursing.

One that you will now carry forth, spreading the wisdom and care to all that you will serve.

What is a legacy?

A legacy is a gift, one that is given to us by those that come before us and establish the path that you'll now follow.

They include my fellow board members, faculty and staff who work in this caring environment.

Your family and friends who all knew you had it within you to do this.

Their support has been invaluable and to today, they shine with you.

We ask that you stay connected.

Let us know what you're doing, share your stories, your successes, and your challenges as you move through your career.

Believe me, we'll be right there waiting to hear from you.

You've made it.

It's a great feeling, I know.

You're now part of the Spartan Nurse alumni family.

Congratulations and keep shining.

(audience applauding) - Thank you, Dr. Jones.

Nurses are on the front lines of healthcare and comprise the largest healthcare workforce.

There are 10 nurses for every three physicians.

You all now join the 4.2 million nurses of this nation.

Our Spartan nurses are well educated, hardworking, you've shown that and determined to make a difference.

The faculty, staff, and I could not be prouder of the spring 2024 graduates.

(audience applauding) So on behalf of the College of Nursing faculty and staff, congratulations to our graduates, their friends, families and loved ones.

And as Spartan nurses, we know you will represent the college of Nursing and the nursing profession with the highest integrity as you provide exemplary healthcare.

As we close our ceremony today, please join me in thanking the Lansing Concert Band and Kathy Forest for leading the music today.

(audience applauding) (audience cheering) And I would now ask the graduates, guests, and faculty to please stand as you can join in singing the first stanza of Michigan State University's "Alma Mater," MSU shadows, followed by the "MSU Fight Song."

Once again, congratulations.

♪ MSU, we love thy shadows ♪ ♪ When twilight silence falls ♪ ♪ Flushing deep and softly paling ♪ ♪ O'er ivy-covered halls ♪ ♪ Beneath the pines we'll gather ♪ ♪ To give our faith so true ♪ ♪ Sing our love for Alma Mater ♪ ♪ And thy praises, MSU ♪ (audience applauding) (audience cheering) ♪ On the banks of the Red Cedar ♪ ♪ There's a school that's known to all ♪ ♪ Its specialty is winning ♪ ♪ And those Spartans play good ball ♪ ♪ Spartan teams are never beaten ♪ ♪ Go right through for MSU ♪ ♪ Watch the points keep growing ♪ ♪ Spartan teams are bound to win ♪ ♪ They're fighting with a vim ♪ ♪ Rah, Rah, Rah ♪ ♪ See their team is weakening ♪ ♪ We're going to win this game ♪ ♪ Fight, fight, rah, team, fight ♪ ♪ Victory for MSU ♪ (audience applauding) (audience cheering)