Michael Solomon
Graduate-Entry MS Student
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When I was a social worker at a residential facility for people with drug addiction and mental illness, I worked with a nurse who motivated me to go into nursing. I saw the comprehensive way he interacted with the residents.
As nurses, we work on the front lines. We see who’s getting sick, who’s getting better, and who’s continuing to get sick despite our best efforts. We become aware of inequality and what it does to people, and we have a direct role as patient advocates in addressing inequality.
I am serving as the first president of UIC’s Student Nurses for Social Justice. We’ve led health education lectures for citizens returning from prison at Howard Area Community Center. We’ve hosted a restorative justice workshop, where we learned about the potential for changing the criminal justice system. We’ve had members of Cure Violence come speak to our student nurses to educate us on the realities of gun violence in Chicago.
All of these things work to change society, to create a healthier society
and a more equal society.