On Saturday, October 10, Concordia University Ann Arbor School of Nursing celebrated the Pinning Ceremony for the Omega Class, the fourth co-hort to graduate from CUAA's school of nursing.
Each semester, Concordia’s nursing faculty and staff nominate students from the graduating cohort who best represent the core values of the nursing program: service, excellence, compassion, and integrity. An additional award, the Nightingale Award, was created as a tribute to Florence Nightingale who embodied nursing as her life’s vocation. The recipient of this award exemplifies that same character and calling.
View all of the Omega class award winners.
Service Award: Kalli Hunley (’20)
Presented by Betsy Cambridge
The award I am giving today is for a student who exemplifies service.
Service is one of our program’s cornerstone virtues. It is defined simply as that act of doing something for someone else without the expectation of being rewarded.
Let us consider this Bible verse from 1 Peter as we think about what it means to serve others.
I Peter 4:10
10 Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in various forms.
The very nature and art of the nursing profession implies caring for and meeting the needs of others. As we have told these students many times, nurses meet people in the midst of some of the toughest challenges of their lives. An average nurse will provide care for the patient based solely on the provider orders given. A service-oriented nurse will seek ways to serve the patient and individualize care based on knowing the patient’s story; considering the challenges and desires of that patient. Concordia nurses are service-oriented nurses.
Because service is so important to us at Concordia, we have a program designed to reward students for their service both on campus and outside of campus. The program is called the Nurse Excellence Program. Each semester students are rewarded for their hours of service. We have three levels of awards. I am always amazed at the generosity of our students who are going to nursing school and many who are already busy with have jobs and families, yet still find time to serve others. The student we are recognizing today has achieved the platinum level NEP award 3 of the 6 semesters of the Concordia Nursing School program. She has volunteered a total of 76.5 hours doing various service activities in her community. I had the pleasure of serving with this student on our trip to Belize for her Pediatric and Community Health courses and watched as she lovingly cared for the children and adults in communities of poverty. Her compassion overflows to those around her. I am proud to recognize a woman who has a heart for service to others, Kallie Hunley, for the Service Award today.
Previous Service Awardees:
Stanley Stinson (Delta class, Fall 2019)
Tim Felska (Beta class, Spring 2019)
Shalena Blocker (Alpha class, Fall 2018)
Learn more about Concordia’s School of Nursing.
— Rachel Thoms served on Concordia University's Strategic Communications team from 2015-2022. Any inquiries about this story can be sent to news@cuaa.edu.
If this story has inspired you, why not explore how you can help further Concordia's mission through giving.