“There were times when I had to make the choice of studying when my friends weren’t—when I had to apply myself when maybe others didn’t,” recalls Lindsay Gray, a student at the University of North Dakota.

Lindsay didn’t choose nursing as a career path; it chose her.  As she started her clinical work, Lindsay was a little intimidated by the hospital and worried that she wasn’t ready.  However, with the help of other nurses and with the knowledge she had already gained in college to that point, she stepped right up to the plate working on the orthopedic and neurological floor at Altru Hospital in Grand Forks.

“You can never feel like you are completely ready because there is always more to understand, more to learn,” Lindsay explained. “Now I have the confidence that I know what to do in those rooms. My patients have a problem and I am amazed that I know what do to. The topics I have been working so hard to memorize are put in play.” And the amount of studying she had to put in to reach that point was substantial.

“When it is getting hard and overwhelming and it’s hard to imagine it can ever be worth it, I remember it is worth it and I am going to make a difference whatever I do as a nurse,” she said.

During her two semesters of clinicals, Lindsay has worked with more than forty patients.  Doing so has helped her realize the importance of her role as a nurse and in the worthwhile career path she has chosen in science and medicine.

“I don’t know a single nurse who is happy or excited to clean out or empty a catheter. Or change an infected wound. But you have a role. Patients need you; they need your help.”

She fondly remembers one elderly man, a former polka announcer, now confined to a wheel chair. 

“I got to learn about his life and experiences. It is not that he had won a prize or discovered something amazing, but he was an amazing person. One day he said, ‘If I could still walk, I would teach you how to polka right now.’ You can’t put that feeling into words. I will never forget that or the time I spent getting to know him.”

Along with her academics, Lindsay has learned how to balance work with volunteerism, showing her compassion and desire to help others.  While at UND, she took part in Relay for Life, as well as service as a student ambassador assisting other students in career fairs and working with incoming freshman.

“It almost sounds selfish, but I get so much back from giving,” Gray said. “It is such a comforting and personally gratifying thing. I am not just taking up space here. I cannot describe the gratification simply going out of my way to help someone.”

Nursing, for Lindsay is the fulfillment of her desire to give back. “Being a nurse is more of having a gift than having a job,” she said. “The pay off of all the hard work in school is how I get to help people for the rest of my life. It is well worth it, more than you can imagine. I am excited for what the future holds, that is for sure.”