By Linda Waggener, marketing and media relations coordinator
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| Brandie Cox Adams of Campbellsville was one of five graduates to receive BSN degrees in the December commencement exercises. |
CAMPBELLSVILLE, Ky. – Beverly Rowland, director of Campbellsville University’s RN to BSN program and assistant professor of nursing, said the lives of her first graduating class of online bachelor’s of science in nursing (BSN) students were hectic and busy with obligations to family and community as well as to school. She had to remember that when only one of her five graduates was able to participate in the December 2013 commencement ceremony.
Rowland said her heart was filled when Brandie Cox Adams of Campbellsville received her degree in cap and gown, and at the same time her thoughts were with the four who were taking care of priorities in other areas of their lives and couldn’t participate.
“The beauty of an online program,” Rowland said, “is that it can be made to fit completely around an adult student’s needs.” The Campbellsville University RN to BSN program is fully online so students have the choice to do course work in any place or time they need it to fit. That even includes the choice of whether or not to attend special events on campus like commencement.
Students who were unable to attend the graduation ceremony had very good reasons that demonstrate their active lifestyles, Rowland said.
Corey Clarke of Pulaski County was spending a peaceful time with his wife, Courtney, and their newborn daughter Carstyn, born just two days earlier. Clark has recently been appointed as unit manager over the Transitional Care Unit at Lake Cumberland Regional Hospital in Somerset. Clark said that his education was beneficial in getting this promotion.
Debra Laman, Dunnville, Ky., was at home preparing a very special Christmas celebration with family. Their celebration was especially joyous this year. Her 13-year-old son, Noah, was diagnosed and treated with bone cancer during this last year — it had been a tough year for Laman. Yet she persevered and was able to complete her program. Laman is also employed at Lake Cumberland Regional Hospital. Daughter, Katie, plans to follow her mother into nursing, and at press time, Laman was eagerly awaiting the birth of her first grandchild by her older daughter.
Kayla Raganas of Campbellsville, Ky. was being inducted into the Sigma Theta Tau National Honor Society of Nursing at Murray State University. She has been accepted into the BSN to DNP Program in Anesthesia at Murray State University. She plans to be married to Matthew Berry in May and they will reside in Maysville, where she will attend Murray’s extension classes at Morehead State University.
Hannah White of Hodgenville, Ky. was participating in a friend’s wedding in Pennsylvania. She serves as a charge nurse in her job at Hardin Memorial Hospital. White hopes to work in pediatrics in the near future; her recent attainment of her BSN opens those doorways to her.
And Adams, who did get to join in the commencement exercises, has been moved up to the day shift in her position at Taylor Regional Hospital. This enables her to spend more time with her husband and son. But Adams does not plan to stop here; she hopes to enter a master’s program in nursing in the next year.
Campbellsville University is a widely acclaimed Kentucky-based Christian university with more than 3,600 students offering 63 undergraduate options, 17 master’s degrees, five postgraduate areas and eight pre-professional programs. The website for complete information is campbellsville.edu.