Donors, scholars celebrate together at annual recognition lunch
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When she was still an undergraduate, Safia Khan, BSN ’18, recalls telling her advisor that she wanted to pursue a DNP degree and become a nurse practitioner.
But, worried about the cost, she didn’t think the time was right. Her advisor, Heather Sadilek, asked her, “If not now, then when?” and encouraged her to apply for scholarships.
“Fast forward, two years later, I am completing my first year in the [DNP] program here at my beloved UIC College of Nursing,” Khan said. “The [Owen Graduate Student Scholarship] has greatly influenced my financial sense of well-being; I honestly cannot express the great gratitude and sense of relief.”
Khan was speaking at the College of Nursing’s third annual Donor & Scholar Recognition Luncheon, an event at which donors have an opportunity to hear about the experiences of scholarship recipients and students have a chance to thank their patrons. More than 200 people attended.
She and nearly 70 of the college’s more than 100 student scholars in 2018-19 were on hand to receive certificates acknowledging their achievement in having earned scholarship support made possible by dozens of donors.
One of those donors is Holli DeVon, PhD, RN, FAHA, FAAN, who is professor and head of the college’s Department of Biobehavioral Health Science. DeVon spoke about her journey from undergraduate through doctoral nursing education, and about her belief in the importance of “giving back to the institutions that shape us.”
BSN student Brooklyn Hastings, who received the Dorothy J. Dethloff Scholarship and the College of Nursing Scholarship, spoke directly to the donors:
“I cannot thank you enough. You have made it possible for many students like myself to pursue the career of our dreams. With your generous gifts we can spend more time studying, more time taking on new opportunities and less time paying our bills. Because of your donations we can breathe a little easier and keep striving to be the best possible nurses.”
