Amy Jackson is a phenomenal didactic and clinical instructor. I have an extensive personal history with mental health illness, and I have been dreading the psychiatric nursing class since the beginning of the program. The subject hits a little too close to home, and most subjects surrounding mental health are extremely triggering for me. Without going into detail, being triggered completely throws off my ability to fully function and succeed in and out of school as I normally do.

After the first psych lecture, I knew the semester was going to be a tough ride. I am a proactive person and therefore promptly requested a meeting with Amy. Out of the hopes for the greatest understanding on her part, I chose to be vulnerable with my mental illness struggles and how the class was so far impacting me. While she and I knew there was no way around the course, together we made a plan that would best set me up for success. Immediately, it was obvious that Amy was an advocate for her students and wanted nothing more than her students to succeed. She was very empathetic, compassionate, and gracious as I laid out the situation to her.

This semester has been absolutely the hardest semester I have faced in the past three years. Confronting the content of the psych course in addition to the extreme rigor of Med/Surg 2 caused me to really struggle mentally and emotionally this semester. Amy did everything she could to help me avoid situations that may be too much for me to handle and made my time in clinical practice as "doable" as possible. When a situation became too much for me, she was immediately attentive to helping me.

There is no possible way I would have made it through this semester without Amy's support and advocacy. She was always available to me when I needed someone to talk to. This is going above and beyond what the expectations are for her as a professor. I always felt that Amy was looking out for me and was willing to be flexible to all degrees possible.

My classmates and I all agree that Amy is a phenomenal professor. She knows the materials she teaches, and she has such a kind heart. Moreover, Amy chose to be further vulnerable with me about her personal struggles, assuring me that I am not alone. In doing this, once again, Amy went above and beyond what is expected of her as a professor and further created a professionally intimate relationship with me as her student, fighting for my success.

She was an integral part of getting me through the spring semester. Amy is excellent at her job, and I will never forget my semester with her. While it was a semester of immense struggle, I never felt alone or as if I had no options. Again, I couldn't have made it through this semester without Amy.