Southwestern Michigan College has welcomed 15 new nurses to America’s largest health care profession with approximately 4.3million registered nurses (RNs) nationwide.
The federal government projects that more than 203,000 new positions will be created each year through 2031. The median age is 46, with more than a quarter of RNs reporting that they plan to leave nursing or retire over the next five years.
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. The class joins the ranks of 3,217 SMC nursing graduates.
Dr. Melissa Kennedy, dean of the School of Nursing and Health Services, addressed class members to “recognize your resilience, determination and courage. This is more than a ceremony, it’s a milestone that marks the beginning of your journey as a nurse, as a leader and as a force. The path you chose is not easy. It’s about more than knowledge. It takes heart, endurance and a sense of self that cannot be shaken by the voices around you — or even the voice within.
“It will be hard,” Kennedy said. “There will be long nights, tough patients and impossible moments. In nursing and in life, there will be those who question your choices, your capabilities and your strengths. Let them. Then prove them wrong, not through argument, but through action.
“Let them doubt you, underestimate your intelligence, your toughness and your heart. Let them assume you’ll break under pressure. Let them criticize from the sidelines while you show up day after day in the arena. Let them think you can’t while quietly proving to them that you can. They do not define your worth. Their opinions do not shape your purpose and their limits are not your limits. Let you rise. You’ve already proven what you’re made of, studying late nights, reading countless chapters. You’ve juggled families, jobs and your own fears, but you’ve shown resilience not just in textbooks and in clinicals, but in life.”
“You didn’t get here by accident,” Kennedy said, “and you won’t go forward by luck. Let them talk. Let you keep building. Let them walk away. Let you stand firm. Let them underestimate you. Let you rise anyway. Let them expect less. Let you do even more, not because you have anything to prove, but because that’s who you are. Let them protect their limits. Let you define your own. Let them dismiss you. And let you surprise them with grace, grit and excellence. Let them say it’s too hard. And let you prove to them that you were built to do hard things.”
“Let them measure you by titles, by status or noise. And let you measure yourself by kindness, courage and impact. Let them go low. Let you go high and stay there. Let you walk into every patient’s room, every emergency, every challenge knowing that you earned this, that you belong here. And when criticism comes from within and you doubt your worth, your ability or your path, let you be gentle, pause, breathe and keep going anyway. Let you be brave and do the work despite your fear.”
“Your pin is not just a symbol of skill, but of unshakable resilience. Your strength is not loud or boastful. It’s quiet, grounded and relentless. You are a healer, a protector and a fighter. Let them try to break you and watch you shine anyway,” Kennedy said.
SMC President Dr. Joe Odenwald said, “All of us are going to need health care at some point, coming into this world or going out. People in the community tell me all the time, ‘I had good SMC nurses,’ which is a reflection of our faculty.”
SMC Nursing Graduates include: Jenny Bupp, Dowagiac; Haley Harris, Buchanan; Saleena Hill, Dowagiac; Gwendolyn Jackson, Marcellus; Sandra Jenkins, Hartford; Autumn Johnson, Dowagiac; Elizabeth Little, Eau Claire; Karlie Mills, Niles; Amy Montgomery, Edwardsburg; Jessica Moshier, Paw Paw; Britney Peet, Eau Claire; Clarissa Phillips, Dowagiac; Samantha Rydwelski, Buchanan; McKenzie Talsma, Zeeland; and Brandon Villarreal, Dowagiac.
