Montcalm Community College recognized 20 nursing students during a pinning ceremony on Dec. 7 in the gymnasium on the college’s Sidney campus. The students were honored for completing their Associate of Applied Science Degree in Nursing (ADN), which prepares them for national licensure as a registered nurse.

Reygan Holt and Lia Madden, both of Rockford, were chosen by their fellow classmates to speak at the ceremony.

“They say that nursing is both an art and a science, but I’d like to add a third element: survival,” Holt said. “We’ve survived exams that felt like interrogations, clinical rotations that pushed us to our limits, and the constant battle between our inner voice saying, ‘You got this,’ and the occasional existential crisis whispering, ‘Do you really got this?’”

Holt spoke about what makes this nursing cohort special.

“What I find most unique about this graduating class is their perseverance and drive,” she said. “I have never met a group of people more motivated than them. They are also some of the most empathetic and genuine people I have ever met.”

Madden wrapped up the evening’s remarks.

“Congratulations, my fellow nurses – we laughed, we cried … I swore a lot … but we all came out alive, even if sometimes it felt like only barely,” Madden said. “I wish you all the very best in your careers!”

Honorees included:

Alma

Breanne Ortiz

Cedar Springs

Kaitlin Huisken

Comstock Park

Dereck Sissell

Coopersville

Caroline Panoff

Crystal

Amber Archuleta

Aubrie Dunlap

Grand Rapids

Baleigh French

Kassie Miller

Greenville

Leah Bristol

Serena Larsen

Peggy Port

Lake Odessa

Emily Justice

Lowell

Mikayla Nault

Morley

Joseph Normand

Pierson

Brittany Hopping

Rockford

Reygan Holt

Lia Madden

St. Louis

Madelline Fisher

Trufant

Kendra Whipkey

Vestaburg

Leiah Beach

Media contact:
Shelly Springborn
Director of Communications and Public Relations
shellys@montcalm.edu
989-560-0833