1997 Miracle Yearbook

The Nursing Department held a convocation for its14th graduatingclassonJune6.The two-hourceremony took place in the Dixon Ministry Center. Before the ceremony, fac- ulty,seniors,familyandfriends mingled atareception given in their honor by the department. Senior David Butgereit pro- vided music on his classical guitar. Theconvocationwasopened in prayer by Academic Vice President Duane Wood,and a charge to the class was given by Dr.Irene Alyn,Chair ofthe Department of Nursing, who reflected on the class Bible verse, John 15:5. Unique to graduation from the Nursing program is the tra- gladE mocJ f0 eazdyn cS'imons dition of pinning, the part of the convocation in which the graduate receives theBSN pin. During the pinning ceremony, each student was also awarded a specific character quality which the nursing students and faculty chose as descriptive of that graduate. Three awards were pre- sented: the Academic Award went to Amy Stewart, who maintainedaGPAof4.0;Kathy Petersen received the Practice Award,given to the nurse who performs above expectations in the clinical setting; and the Character Award,voted on by classmatesandfaculty,wentto Katie Smith. A high point for the gradu- ates came in the final part of _1 tni the ceremony when they took off their blue student smocks, leaving only their white nurs- ing uniforms. LoisBaker,Pro- fessorofNursing,said, "thisis when it really hits them that they are nurses!" For their class song,the se- niors selected"AnyRoad,Any Cost." Graduate Renee El- Khouri explained, "we chose this song because it wasalong road that wefollowed to getus to this point--years of lab re- ports, all-night study sessions, and early morning clinicals-- sometimesallinthesameweek. ButGod gotusthrough and He will continue to guide us as we serve Him in our professional careers." AM, 102 academics