Virginia Nursing Student of the Year focused on saving lives
JMU senior Marlee Flynt, of Forest, Va., is the third consecutive Duke to be named the Virginia Nursing Student of the Year.
Marlee Flynt, a senior at James Madison University, faced a
tragedy in her past that helped shape the compassionate nursing student she is
today.
When her boyfriend committed suicide the summer
before her senior year of high school, Flynt struggled to find direction. “I
applied to JMU to study nursing because I like caring for people,” she said. “Since coming to JMU and becoming a part of the nursing
profession, I have seen how my past has led me to this point.”
“While my interest in science and desire to care
for others is the foundation of why I originally wanted to become a nurse, my
compassion for my patients, life experiences, and my understanding of the value
of life is what I feel defines my decision to be the best nurse I can possibly
be,” Flynt said. “I am excited about the opportunity to
make a difference in people’s lives whether small or big.”
Flynt, from Forest, Va., is the third consecutive JMU student
to receive the Virginia Nursing Student of the Year Award, following Miriam
Daoud of Poquoson, Va., in 2012 and Alexa Greenstein of Plainsboro, N.J., in
2011.
According to Flynt, “a big part of why I believe JMU
students have been chosen three years in a row is that our professors stress
the importance of being involved in professional organizations, which gave me
the opportunity to go to [Nursing Student Association] nationals last year.
Experiences like that take education beyond the classroom and show you that
there is so much more to nursing. JMU does a really good job of making us
stretch beyond what we are expected to do.”
Flynt has been an active member of JMU’s NSA for four years and
has previously held the positions of media chair and treasurer. As the
chapter’s current president, she helped lead a mental health awareness campaign
on JMU’s campus. Flynt and other NSA members disseminated handouts and set up a
suicide awareness event that attracted over 200 students.
“Ms. Flynt is an
extremely bright, dependable, organized and capable young woman,” said Dr.
Sandra Annan, assistant professor of nursing at JMU, who nominated Flynt for
the award. “Her greatest strengths are her enthusiasm and her ability to rally
others behind her.”
To complete her nursing degree, Flynt will participate in a
capstone project this semester in the emergency department of St. Francis Medical
Center in Richmond. Throughout the experience she will be caring for patients from
different populations in a dynamic environment.
Flynt’s advice to nursing students, which is appropriate for
every college student regardless of their major, is, “Do not just focus on your
school work. You need to get out and get involved on campus, get involved in
organizations and make sure to take time for yourself, whether that is time
spent working out, baking or something else. Nursing is very stressful and you
are going 100 percent all the time. You need to take a break to take care of
yourself so you can turn around and do it again the next day.”
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By Katie Casey (’13), JMU Public Affairs intern
March 5, 2013
