During the College of Southern Maryland (CSM) nursing recognition ceremony Jan. 16, as part of the college’s 21st Winter Commencement, 41 associate degree nursing candidates received their nursing pin.
The nursing pin is a treasured symbol CSM Nursing Professor Jeanne Hill told the graduates and their families during the ceremony. She explained how the modern pinning ceremony dates to the 1860s, when Florence Nightingale was awarded the Red Cross of St. George in recognition for her tireless service to the injured during the Crimean War. According to Healthcare Marketplace, “to share the honor, [Nightingale] in turn presented a medal of excellence to her brightest graduates and by 1916, the practice of pinning new graduates was standard throughout the U.S.”
“It was decades ago when the first pin was designed by the first RN class to ever graduate from the college in 1979,” continued Hill, who added that the current pin was custom designed by her and her classmates when she graduated from CSM in 2001.
CSM Alum and Registered Nurse Teresa Waldron congratulated the nursing students on their pinning.
CSM alum and registered nurse Teresa Waldron was invited by the class to be its guest speaker. “To think eight years ago, I was sitting where you are sitting today!” she said. “I know it took hard work, long nights and intense studies to get here. I get it. And you made it!”
Waldron shared the parable of the young man walking on the beach saving starfish stranded on the sand.
“One day, an old man was walking along a beach that was littered with thousands of starfish that had been washed ashore by the high tide. As he walked he came upon a young boy who was eagerly throwing the starfish back into the ocean, one by one.
Puzzled, the man looked at the boy and asked what he was doing. Without looking up from his task, the boy simply replied, “I’m saving these starfish, Sir”.
The old man chuckled aloud, “Son, there are thousands of starfish and only one of you. What difference can you make?”
The boy picked up a starfish, gently tossed it into the water and turning to the man, said, “I made a difference to that one!”
“That beach represents the journey ahead of you,” Waldron explained. “The boy is you. The starfish are your patients, their families, your peers. You will make a difference.”
And she told the students that the difference they make could be something as small as a smile. “Be contagious with your energy, not your negativity.”
Student Speaker Anna Waller, of Dunkirk, offered reflections to her graduating class. While giving a glimpse into each semester’s demands – she drew laughter when she acknowledged the repeated requirement each semester was for the students to wash their hands.
The second semester was significant, explained Waller, in that the students shifted from classmates to teammates.
Waller said two years ago she received an acceptance letter from CSM that changed her life.
CSM Health Sciences Division Chair Dr. Laura Polk closed the program with words encouraging the students to move mountains using patience, persistence, empathy, ethics and clinical judgment.
Polk reminded the students that over time they will be challenged by everything from small hills to steeps crags.
Special Nursing Recognition
Adrien Seaton, 60, of Waldorf, left her career in finance 20 years ago to raise her children and didn’t think beyond her tasks at-hand about returning to the labor force until her father died about six years ago.
“When I saw my father going through his medical processes,” Seaton shared, “I was inspired by the nurses who treated him. They made a tremendous difference in his life and in our lives, and I decided I too wanted to be a nurse and give back.”
So four years ago, Seaton enrolled in the CSM nursing program with the goal of adding an associate of nursing degree to her bachelor’s degree in finance from the University of Colorado.
She graduated with high honors Thursday and earned CSM Health Sciences Division “Academic Achievement in Nursing” for maintaining the highest GPA in her nursing class.
“I was actually really excited to hear this news,” she said. “I worked really hard.”
She credits the caliber of CSM’s other nursing students for keeping her motivated.
Alexandra Esser, 22, of Huntingtown, joined Seaton in receiving accolades when she was awarded the CSM Health Sciences Division Achievement in Nursing Award.
Esser graduated from Huntingtown High School in 2015 after participating in the Calvert County Public Schools (CCPS) Career and Technology Education Program for nursing. CCPS and CSM have several articulation agreements in place to jump start higher education for students interested in pursuing either an associate degree (A.S.) or an associate of applied science (A.A.S.) degree. Esser also worked at CalvertHealth in the cardiac unit where she said she met a lot of people who graduated from CSM and talked highly of the program – so attending CSM was always her plan.
“I was thrilled to hear I had earned the nursing award,” Esser shared. The annual Achievement in Nursing Award is given for demonstrating academic achievement, clinical competence, community service and leadership potential.
Esser, together with classmates Leianna Haines and Anna Waller, created the “Scrub Network Program” at CSM last year to provide nursing students peer counseling.
Esser, who is currently working at Calvert Hospice, plans to attend the University of Maryland to advance her nursing skills and plans a career in pediatric oncology.
Congratulations Graduates
The following are the names of the CSM students who graduated with associate degrees in nursing Jan. 16, 2020.
Nursing graduates from Calvert County are Daniel Christopher Bailey, Alexandra Joan Esser, Leianna Michelle Haines, KaLynn M. Johnson, Jacquelyn Alice Laiosa, Victoria Ilene Persetic
Darlene A. Poust, Natalie Rose Schaeffler, Samantha Jo Simms, Josephine Trahan, Kara Jo Tutt and Anna Constance Waller.
Calvert County
Daniel Christopher Bailey
Alexandra Joan Esser
Leianna Michelle Haines
KaLynn M. Johnson
Jacquelyn Alice Laiosa
Victoria Ilene Persetic
Darlene A. Poust
Natalie Rose Schaeffler
Samantha Jo Simms
Josephine Trahan
Kara Jo Tutt
Anna Constance Waller
Nursing graduates from Charles County are Joshua R. Cooperstock, Yesenia Noemy Escobar, Virginia R. Femia, Pewee K. Gayflor, Ashley Hall, Brittany A. Halmon, Ashtin L. Holsworth, Helen Jameson, Melodie Robles, Angela Flaminiano Santos, Adrien Godreau Seaton, Takelia E. Simmons and Sinifa D. Williams.
Charles County
Joshua R. Cooperstock
Yesenia Noemy Escobar
Virginia R. Femia
Pewee K. Gayflor
Ashley Hall
Brittany A. Halmon
Ashtin L. Holsworth
Helen Jameson
Melodie Robles
Angela Flaminiano Santos
Adrien Godreau Seaton
Takelia E. Simmons
Sinifa D. Williams
Nursing graduates from St. Mary’s County are Leilani Bogan, Marcie A. Brock, Christian J. Castillo, Emily V. Chatman, Coralea Dunston, Amber L. Fiorilla, Allison Frederick, Tiffany Lin Fuller, Jamyra S. Grymes, Makayla N. Hughes, Jordan Janschek, Jessica Marie Kasprzak, Emma Jane Lynch, Michelle A. Midgett, Jamie L. Milligan and Carla Elizabeth Rosa.
St. Mary’s County
Leilani Bogan
Marcie A. Brock
Christian J. Castillo
Emily V. Chatman
Coralea Dunston
Amber L. Fiorilla
Allison Frederick
Tiffany Lin Fuller
Jamyra S. Grymes
Makayla N. Hughes
Jordan Janschek
Jessica Marie Kasprzak
Emma Jane Lynch
Michelle A. Midgett
Jamie L. Milligan
Carla Elizabeth Rosa
To view photographs of CSM’s Nurse Pinning and Recognition Ceremony, visit https://csmphoto.zenfolio.com/20jannurrec.
The nursing pin is a treasured symbol CSM Nursing Professor Jeanne Hill told the graduates and their families during the ceremony. She explained how the modern pinning ceremony dates to the 1860s, when Florence Nightingale was awarded the Red Cross of St. George in recognition for her tireless service to the injured during the Crimean War. According to Healthcare Marketplace, “to share the honor, [Nightingale] in turn presented a medal of excellence to her brightest graduates and by 1916, the practice of pinning new graduates was standard throughout the U.S.”
“It was decades ago when the first pin was designed by the first RN class to ever graduate from the college in 1979,” continued Hill, who added that the current pin was custom designed by her and her classmates when she graduated from CSM in 2001.
CSM Alum and Registered Nurse Teresa Waldron congratulated the nursing students on their pinning.
CSM alum and registered nurse Teresa Waldron was invited by the class to be its guest speaker. “To think eight years ago, I was sitting where you are sitting today!” she said. “I know it took hard work, long nights and intense studies to get here. I get it. And you made it!”
Waldron shared the parable of the young man walking on the beach saving starfish stranded on the sand.
“One day, an old man was walking along a beach that was littered with thousands of starfish that had been washed ashore by the high tide. As he walked he came upon a young boy who was eagerly throwing the starfish back into the ocean, one by one.
Puzzled, the man looked at the boy and asked what he was doing. Without looking up from his task, the boy simply replied, “I’m saving these starfish, Sir”.
The old man chuckled aloud, “Son, there are thousands of starfish and only one of you. What difference can you make?”
The boy picked up a starfish, gently tossed it into the water and turning to the man, said, “I made a difference to that one!”
“That beach represents the journey ahead of you,” Waldron explained. “The boy is you. The starfish are your patients, their families, your peers. You will make a difference.”
And she told the students that the difference they make could be something as small as a smile. “Be contagious with your energy, not your negativity.”
Student Speaker Anna Waller, of Dunkirk, offered reflections to her graduating class. While giving a glimpse into each semester’s demands – she drew laughter when she acknowledged the repeated requirement each semester was for the students to wash their hands.
The second semester was significant, explained Waller, in that the students shifted from classmates to teammates.
Waller said two years ago she received an acceptance letter from CSM that changed her life.
CSM Health Sciences Division Chair Dr. Laura Polk closed the program with words encouraging the students to move mountains using patience, persistence, empathy, ethics and clinical judgment.
Polk reminded the students that over time they will be challenged by everything from small hills to steeps crags.
Special Nursing Recognition
Adrien Seaton, 60, of Waldorf, left her career in finance 20 years ago to raise her children and didn’t think beyond her tasks at-hand about returning to the labor force until her father died about six years ago.
“When I saw my father going through his medical processes,” Seaton shared, “I was inspired by the nurses who treated him. They made a tremendous difference in his life and in our lives, and I decided I too wanted to be a nurse and give back.”
So four years ago, Seaton enrolled in the CSM nursing program with the goal of adding an associate of nursing degree to her bachelor’s degree in finance from the University of Colorado.
She graduated with high honors Thursday and earned CSM Health Sciences Division “Academic Achievement in Nursing” for maintaining the highest GPA in her nursing class.
“I was actually really excited to hear this news,” she said. “I worked really hard.”
She credits the caliber of CSM’s other nursing students for keeping her motivated.
Alexandra Esser, 22, of Huntingtown, joined Seaton in receiving accolades when she was awarded the CSM Health Sciences Division Achievement in Nursing Award.
Esser graduated from Huntingtown High School in 2015 after participating in the Calvert County Public Schools (CCPS) Career and Technology Education Program for nursing. CCPS and CSM have several articulation agreements in place to jump start higher education for students interested in pursuing either an associate degree (A.S.) or an associate of applied science (A.A.S.) degree. Esser also worked at CalvertHealth in the cardiac unit where she said she met a lot of people who graduated from CSM and talked highly of the program – so attending CSM was always her plan.
“I was thrilled to hear I had earned the nursing award,” Esser shared. The annual Achievement in Nursing Award is given for demonstrating academic achievement, clinical competence, community service and leadership potential.
Esser, together with classmates Leianna Haines and Anna Waller, created the “Scrub Network Program” at CSM last year to provide nursing students peer counseling.
Esser, who is currently working at Calvert Hospice, plans to attend the University of Maryland to advance her nursing skills and plans a career in pediatric oncology.
Congratulations Graduates
The following are the names of the CSM students who graduated with associate degrees in nursing Jan. 16, 2020.
Nursing graduates from Calvert County are Daniel Christopher Bailey, Alexandra Joan Esser, Leianna Michelle Haines, KaLynn M. Johnson, Jacquelyn Alice Laiosa, Victoria Ilene Persetic
Darlene A. Poust, Natalie Rose Schaeffler, Samantha Jo Simms, Josephine Trahan, Kara Jo Tutt and Anna Constance Waller.
Calvert County
Daniel Christopher Bailey
Alexandra Joan Esser
Leianna Michelle Haines
KaLynn M. Johnson
Jacquelyn Alice Laiosa
Victoria Ilene Persetic
Darlene A. Poust
Natalie Rose Schaeffler
Samantha Jo Simms
Josephine Trahan
Kara Jo Tutt
Anna Constance Waller
Nursing graduates from Charles County are Joshua R. Cooperstock, Yesenia Noemy Escobar, Virginia R. Femia, Pewee K. Gayflor, Ashley Hall, Brittany A. Halmon, Ashtin L. Holsworth, Helen Jameson, Melodie Robles, Angela Flaminiano Santos, Adrien Godreau Seaton, Takelia E. Simmons and Sinifa D. Williams.
Charles County
Joshua R. Cooperstock
Yesenia Noemy Escobar
Virginia R. Femia
Pewee K. Gayflor
Ashley Hall
Brittany A. Halmon
Ashtin L. Holsworth
Helen Jameson
Melodie Robles
Angela Flaminiano Santos
Adrien Godreau Seaton
Takelia E. Simmons
Sinifa D. Williams
Nursing graduates from St. Mary’s County are Leilani Bogan, Marcie A. Brock, Christian J. Castillo, Emily V. Chatman, Coralea Dunston, Amber L. Fiorilla, Allison Frederick, Tiffany Lin Fuller, Jamyra S. Grymes, Makayla N. Hughes, Jordan Janschek, Jessica Marie Kasprzak, Emma Jane Lynch, Michelle A. Midgett, Jamie L. Milligan and Carla Elizabeth Rosa.
St. Mary’s County
Leilani Bogan
Marcie A. Brock
Christian J. Castillo
Emily V. Chatman
Coralea Dunston
Amber L. Fiorilla
Allison Frederick
Tiffany Lin Fuller
Jamyra S. Grymes
Makayla N. Hughes
Jordan Janschek
Jessica Marie Kasprzak
Emma Jane Lynch
Michelle A. Midgett
Jamie L. Milligan
Carla Elizabeth Rosa
To view photographs of CSM’s Nurse Pinning and Recognition Ceremony, visit https://csmphoto.zenfolio.com/20jannurrec.