Aiken Technical College students share their nursing school experience at summer pinning ceremony

Jul. 30—On July 29, Aiken Technical College honored 30 nursing students with the time-honored tradition of the nursing pinning ceremony.

Dean of Nursing Hannah Williams, addressed the pin recipients by expressing her gratitude.

"Thank you for your patience, your understanding, your dedication and perseverance to make it here, to this point, the pinning ceremony," she said.

This ceremony, which dates back to 1880, sees each nurse receive a symbolic pin representing dedication to the service of others; at the ceremony's close, those who have been pinned hold candles while reciting the Florence Nightingale Pledge.

While nursing school is often a difficult journey with challenging classes and demanding time commitments, An'Ye Chase said that the rewards are worth it. Chase, a pin recipient, said that the LPN program she completed was "very hard, very hard. But I can say I learned a lot."

Latoria Butler, another LPN pin recipient, said that she spent many nights crying over her classes, and even considered giving up.

"It requires determination and hard work... you have to be motivated to do the course load that we had to go through," Butler said.

Butler said that she was able to push through to the end, thanks to support which was readily provided by her professors, family and classmates.

Rebecca Carreon, who received her pin for completing the Patient Care Technician program, said that she also relied on her fellow nursing students for assistance — especially while learning about administering electrocardiograms (EKGs) — tests that record the electrical signals of the heart.

"All my classmates were very helpful, if I had a problem I could go with them and ask them a question, they would answer it," she said.

The school's summer pinning recognized April Arman, Danielle Bailey, Ryley Baird, Courtney Johnson, Elizabeth Lawson, Jessica Toole, Sheral Whetstone, Hope Wise, Ernestine Bailey, Baileigh Carney, An'Ye Chase, Morgan Coleman, Whitney Hillary, Julianna Horst, Marisa McCreary, Sarah McDuffie, Carmen Perez, Kiana Rollins, Monique Smith, Latoria Stevens, Jerrod Tyler, Ammario Bauknight, Samaria Bellinger, Hanna Blackburn, Rebecca Carreon, Brenna Edwards, Shantyl Harley, Evelyn Cortes Rodriguez, Salayah Walker and Jayla Williams.

Aiken Tech's Fall semester begins Aug. 19.