She has a presence that one tends to gravitate to, think of it as how those in the wilderness, in the cold, would feel when they see a warm fire after a frozen trudge through the woods of the unknown.

We gravitate towards her in comfort and with a sense of being accepted beyond measure. She's just the clinical instructor we needed in the midst of the stress of Nursing school, where things can be scary and confidence in ourselves, as learning Nursing students, is not at its peak.

Upon meeting her, I knew from the start she was literally the embodiment of how a clinical instructor ought to aspire to be in every detail. From the way she dressed, her positive inviting tone, the way she addressed you and anyone in general that would quite literally come in her path, her purposeful walk, assessing skills always turned on and at the ready to help and answer the call of a need, for whatever it may be, and ensuring she carried herself in the utmost respect and with great purpose, and that purpose? To meet you where you needed her to.

Clinicals are a lot of stress for students, and not only did she know and believe this deeply, but she literally made it her mission to ensure this experience was as stress-free as possible, while optimizing learning experiences as much as she was able. She always went out of her way to advocate for us students, and up to this point, I hadn't felt like any of my other site adjuncts had this much investment in student Nurses.

We either felt like we were a bother, or we were to speak when spoken to, tugged away in a corner out of sight, or, to put it simply, we were not wanted because we got in the way of the everyday conduct of business on units. For once in my time in the program, I felt like someone finally "saw us" and made sure (in more ways than one) that we knew we are important, and that all the hard things we may feel we are going through right now, trying to attain what feels impossible, matter.

It's so easy to fall into the sense that Nursing school is just about getting by and passing on to the next level, that often in the midst of it all, we forget the human kindness to care about ourselves truly and honestly. It means "seeing" that you are important and that you matter, and that without you, you would not be where you are at. This is how she made me feel.

She jumped at every opportunity to ensure we ended up with compatible Nurses to learn from, she spoke words of affirmation to jump start us every morning and would give us a boost throughout our clinical day during her rounds, she often asked "Alright, what do YOU guys need from me" at the end of the day and even mid-day to make sure she was meeting us where we needed her, whether that was with extra information on medications or a disease, she would get on it and get back to us ASAP on answers.

I could go on and on about how wonderful she has treated us as her students; she's truly an amazing individual with her work schedule as a Nurse on top of having a family life, being in school, and taking on students.

She didn't have to add the big helping of "I care about you and what you are going through, and so we are going to make it count in every possible way while I have you here learning!" but that's just who she is, she excels at taking it an extra mile because everything about this beautiful caring woman embodies the makings of an exceptional Nurse, serving as an inspiration to aspire to be for many if not all of us.

Thank you! You have opened our eyes so big to plenty of learning experiences, broadened our horizons, and opened up more options for some of us unsure individuals, comforted our hearts, calmed some high blood pressures for sure, and ultimately inspired us all to keep on the path.

Thanks to you, I feel even more sure in who I am as a Nurse to be, what I am to become, and no matter how long or what it takes, I will one day become a Nurse just like her, she isn't just a Nurse...she IS the Standard.

Why wouldn't you want to be the best when you've had the good fortune of being TAUGHT by, as many of the young say these days, THE GOAT? That is what she is, and so much more.

Thank you for far more than you even know, truly.