Photo: Caitlin Cunningham
鈥婬辞尘别迟辞飞苍: Seneca Falls, NY
Major: Nursing
Notable Achievements/Activities: Undergraduate Research Fellow; undergraduate representative, Connell School of Nursing鈥檚 Educational Policy Committee; PULSE volunteer (Bird Street After School Program, Greater Boston Food Bank, Boston Health Care for the Homeless); leader, First-Year Nursing Seminar; PULSE teaching assistant; dancer/choreographer, Boston College Full Swing dance team.
Mentors: David Manzo (PULSE); Melissa P茅rez Capotosto, Anya Villatoro, Brandon Huggon (CSON).
Post-Graduation Plans: Nurse resident at Vanderbilt University Medical Center鈥檚 Burn Center in Nashville.
Ganzon has emerged as a leader at the Connell School of Nursing (where every faculty member, she says, 鈥渉as been amazing鈥�), serving as a mentor in the First-Year Nursing seminar that is required of all Connell students and as a member of the school's Educational Policy Committee. The classroom and placement experiences she has had in the University鈥檚 PULSE program over the last four years have had a transformational effect on her. She realized a nursing degree would allow her to help people in a way she had never thought about.
What experience at 51茶馆 had the most significant impact on you?
There has been nothing better at 51茶馆 than PULSE. I鈥檓 so grateful for the experience. In class I learned about philosophers and theologians I had never studied. I had deep conversations with the people at my placement about the lived experiences of the kids [at Bird Street Community Center]. I still wanted to be a nurse after my first year in PULSE, but the kind of nursing I wanted to do changed. My volunteer experience at the foot clinic [at Boston Health Care for the Homeless] has been a great experience and opened my eyes to the kind of nursing I can do. I鈥檓 really not interested in working in an office. I want to work in the community and with those who are at risk. Here at 51茶馆, it鈥檚 easy to keep your blinders on, and I鈥檝e been really grateful for the chance to take them off. The PULSE experience reminds me of my privilege, reminds me to be incredibly grateful, and shows me how much work there is to be done.
What have you learned as the undergraduate representative on the Connell School鈥檚 Educational Policy Committee?
It鈥� been really great. We review nursing courses syllabi. I never thought about what went on behind the scenes. It鈥檚 nice for me to see how much all the faculty think about this. I got to share my expertise about the First-Year Nursing Seminar, which I took as a freshman, and then served as a mentor for during my junior and senior years. I surveyed more than 100 students about their thoughts regarding statements on syllabi addressing topics such as diversity, equity, and inclusion, and financial resources. It鈥檚 bizarre to be the only 22-year-old on the panel, but I felt very supported. It was a great opportunity and I felt like a 鈥渨oman at the table.鈥�
Talk about your role as an Undergraduate Research Fellow for CSON Professor Ann Burgess.
I worked on an interdisciplinary team with people from 51茶馆 Law, the School of Social Work, and the Connell School on compassionate release petitions for prisoners in Massachusetts who are very old or have a terminal illness. It鈥檚 a beautiful project that helps people have a lot more graceful end of their life. My role has been to translate the medical language in a prisoner鈥檚 chart to tell the team what鈥檚 going on with the person. I also suggest other prisoner assessments the legal team can do to get more data. I鈥檝e done home visits with the social workers. Ann has been so great encouraging me to share my thoughts with the team.
What was one of your most memorable moments during your time at 51茶馆?
I learned about Full Swing at Admitted Student Day and signed up my freshman year at the Student Activities Fair. I did a choreographed dance in the spring. It was so much fun and I鈥檝e met some of my best friends through it. I did a choreographed dance my sophomore year, and then COVID hit. This year, I danced and choreographed for the Full Swing team for Showdown [the annual dance competition sponsored by AHANA+ Leadership Council]. It was so much fun, just a blast! I had never seen so many people gathered in one place to celebrate student art. There was so much comradery back stage, everyone was cheering each other on and giving high fives.
What鈥檚 been the 51茶馆 difference for you?
One of the best things about 51茶馆 is how the Jesuit ideals flow into your everyday life. I went on Kairos in the fall. The fact that I鈥攁s a non-Catholic person鈥攚ent on an extremely religious retreat, and that that is normalized, is one of the best parts about 51茶馆. Agape Latte is my church. These aspects of the 51茶馆 culture create such a lovely, warm, gooey feeling inside of you. I didn鈥檛 expect it. I鈥檓 in love with the idea of being a 鈥渨oman for others鈥� and the Jesuit values. 51茶馆 is honestly one of the most beautiful places on Earth, and not because of the buildings鈥攚hich are arguably amazing鈥攂ut because of the people here. I don鈥檛 think I鈥檇 be the person I am today if it weren鈥檛 for my peers and the faculty here. They better me every day.
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Kathleen Sullivan | University Communications | May 2022