Over the past year and a half, it has been such a joy to watch Lluvia grow into the professional nurse she has become. When I think of Lluvia some things that come to mind include her infectious smile, her competent nursing care, and her compassionate attitude. I automatically flash back to memories of her as my student. Some of my favorites have been her performing trach suctioning during simulation and absolutely crushing it, her face when asked to do a medication calculation in front of her classmates and excelling, her coming to campus during the summer to encourage high school students to pursue health care in college, and of course my favorite, her passing out in the middle of OB lab not because she saw something gross, but because she was so busy caring for others, including her little girl, that she forgot to care for herself.

As an instructor, she was a student I always looked forward to seeing and teaching; I knew she would come to class prepared, ready to learn, and, of course, with that infectious smile no matter the situation. I am proud to call her a student of MSU Denver and thank her for all of her hard work in class, at home, in clinicals, and everywhere she goes. I have no doubt she will continue to excel as a nurse and will provide the absolute best care to her patients.