Suzanna Guinn of Marquette said she considers nursing the “Swiss army knife” of undergraduate degrees, both for the skills and knowledge it encompasses and the wide range of career opportunities and potential work settings. Her academic major was inspired in part by her parents' experience in the field. They will no doubt be watching with pride as she delivers the student commencement address at Northern Michigan University's Dec. 14 ceremony.
Guinn's dad David, an NMU alumnus, is a doctoral-prepared, double-board-certified family and psychiatric nurse practitioner. Her mother Renee practiced as a nurse before choosing to homeschool Guinn and her three younger sisters as the family traveled across the country by RV, with homes in Arizona's Sonoran Desert and in the North Carolina Piedmont.
Though she had toyed with the idea of becoming a nurse based on her upbringing, Guinn's plans solidified when she became a certified nurse's aide after taking a related class in high school. When her grandparents moved into her family home, Guinn found it rewarding to be able to assist them with their health issues and serve as their advocate with doctors.
“There's so much about nursing I love,” she said. “It's an art and a science. In this field, I feel like I'm witness to not only the adaptability of the human body, but the resiliency of the human spirit. You're also on the cutting edge of technology. My brain loves machinery, and I'm not intimidated by all of the mechanical components. I also love the complexity of disease processes and the opportunity to spend time with patients and their families.”
Following graduation, Guinn said she would be eligible to work anywhere from a hospital or medical helicopter to a summer camp or cruise ship. She plans to practice in a critical care unit—her senior capstone took place in an ICU—before pursuing her ultimate goal of becoming a certified registered nurse anesthetist.
After transferring to Northern from a community college, Guinn fully immersed herself in her academic program and extracurricular activities. She worked in the Nursing Technology Center, which sets up all simulations and labs, and serves as the social and academic hub for the School of Nursing, and was a supervisor during one of her two years there. She also served as a tutor for pediatric and obstetrical nursing courses.
Guinn gained additional technical and communication skills via the Public Eye News student organization, which produces a daily 15-minute newscast that airs on WNMU-TV. She was later a student employee at the station in the roles of camera operator and production assistant. Over the summer, Guinn worked in the Wildcat Express Center, greeting incoming students on campus for orientation and issuing their IDs and meal plans.
Guinn viewed the commencement speaker opportunity as a potential “cherry on top” final Northern experience that would serve as a memorable sendoff. She had glanced briefly at the email notification about auditions shortly after it reached her inbox, but had to rush to class.
“Five minutes later, I got an email from a professor who thought I'd be a great speaker and wondered if she could nominate me. The application asked for key points I would address in my speech, but I'm not much for drafts, so I ended up just writing the whole thing and submitting it with my application. It's like Ernest Hemingway said: ‘There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed.' That's how I felt,” Guinn explained.
“I feel very proud to represent the College of Nursing at commencement. The faculty have been so wonderful and supportive, going above and beyond what's typical. I feel very fortunate for my experience here. And all of my friends that I've met through campus media are part of the camera crew that films the graduation, so that will be really cool as well. For my speech, I decided to delve into what it means to ‘Be Northern,' which we've heard a lot with the branding. I've been so enmeshed in the campus community that I feel like I have a pretty good idea. I opted to explore it through pop culture and art, even incorporating Lake Superior. To get to graduation means we've all persevered, and that should absolutely be celebrated.”
NMU's mid-year commencement will be held at 10:30 a.m. Saturday, Dec. 14, in the Superior Dome. The ceremony will be streamed at nmu.edu/commencement and broadcast live on WNMU-TV.