Mid-State Technical College recognized the achievements of its 26 Nursing program completers in a pinning ceremony May 14 on the Wisconsin Rapids Campus. Graduates were joined by their family and friends in the celebration. 

The nursing pinning ceremony is a celebratory endcap to a nursing student’s academic career and a bridge between nursing school and a nursing career. It honors and celebrates nursing students and their journey to becoming a nurse. It is also a day of celebration for the nursing faculty who have helped the students reach their goals. 

“I appreciated the continuous opportunities to learn and build upon skills progressively throughout the Nursing program,” said Brittany Anderson, Iola, class of 2024 Nursing graduate who has accepted a position with ThedaCare as a medical-surgical nurse. “The thing I appreciated the most about the program was the incredible amount of support I received from the staff, instructors and most of all, my peers.”

According to Anderson, the pinning ceremony is a moment to acknowledge the end of one adventure and the beginning of a new one. “It means our hard work and sacrifices paid off and were all worth it in the end,” Anderson said. “My plans after graduation are to relax and begin to enjoy all the things that have taken a back burner the past two years, specifically time spent with my family.”

“Our Nursing graduates have been guided in their studies by experienced nursing faculty along with nursing mentors employed by our healthcare partners,” said Deb Johnson-Schuh, dean of the School of Nursing. “Graduates’ families and friends who also offered words of encouragement and support along their journey celebrated their success at the nursing pinning event. The student nursing journey includes countless hours of studying and hands-on clinical experiences. We are so proud of our graduates for their perseverance and determination, and we are excited to welcome them into the honorable profession of nursing.”

For Mid-State’s pinning ceremony, each graduating student selects a registered nurse who is a family member, friend or faculty member to join them on stage to place the nursing pin on the graduate during the ceremony, welcoming them into the profession of nursing. While the graduate is being pinned a recorded message from the student is shared with the audience. The Nursing graduates also take a vow to always help those who are sick or injured.  

Nursing graduate Olivia Stroik, Stevens Point, will begin her post-graduation career as a cardiac intensive care unit (CICU) nurse at Aspirus Wausau Hospital. She graduated with high honors, a distinction she credits to her Nursing instructors and classmates. “I am so thankful to have made strong relationships with many of my nursing instructors,” Stroik said. “They checked in with me throughout the semesters, and always had my best interest at heart. In addition, I made some of my best friends for life in the Nursing program.”

“The pinning ceremony means the world to me because it serves as a symbol of us nursing students’ hard work and dedication towards our coursework and clinicals paying off,” Stroik added. “We get to transition from nursing student to registered nurse. As we take the Florence Nightengale oath, we get to start our nursing career that we have dreamed about and have now made a reality.”

Mid-State’s nursing pinning ceremony stems from a proud tradition reaching back to Florence Nightingale in the 1860s, the first nurse to receive a pin when she was awarded the Red Cross of St. George for her work in the Crimean War. Nightingale in turn honored outstanding nursing graduates with a medal of excellence, which in time inspired a tradition in the US to award all graduates with a pin, beginning in 1880 with Bellevue Hospital School of Nursing in New York City. By 1916, pinning had become a common practice in schools of nursing throughout the United Kingdom and the United States.

The actual pin used in the nursing pinning ceremony is unique to each school, incorporating a design that symbolizes the school’s beliefs about nursing. The Mid-State pin has both a lamp and a book, the lamp being a traditional symbol of excellence that dates back to Nightingale, also known as the Lady with the Lamp.

Following are Mid-State’s spring 2024 Nursing graduates recognized in the May 14 nursing pinning ceremony. 

Brittany Anderson – Iola
Cailen Bean – Stevens Point
Lauren Billmann – Stevens Point
Stewart Farnum – Stevens Point
Ellen Field – Weyauwega
Ashley Gebelein – Colby
Megan Hintz – Plainfield
Sara Jensen – Stevens Point
Courtney Kesler – Marshfield
River Kosobucki – Stevens Point
Sarah Lapides – Birnamwood
Isabella Marshall – Franklin
Emma Mclaughlin – Greenwood
Savannah Owen – Wisconsin Rapids
Zoe Peters – Stevens Point
Caitlyn Phillips – Green Bay
Breanna Richter – Iola
Olivia Schultz – Stevens Point
Erynn Seipel – Nekoosa
Kristie Silva – Plover
Jolene Sopa – Iola
Lisa Sternitzky – Chili
Olivia Stroik – Stevens Point
Emma Van Treese – Camp Douglas
Ashtyn Wiltscheck – Stevens Point
Gau Yee Xiong – Wausau

Learn more about Mid-State’s Nursing program at mstc.edu/programs.