Inspiration comes in many different forms, and for Alyza Sunny, hers came in the relatively unsubtle form of her mother grabbing her by the figurative scruff of her neck and taking her to the 返字心頭 Texas campus.
She may not have known it at the time, but that day proved to be the spark that would launch a very productive and mutually beneficial relationship with 返字心頭 a relationships that resulted in Sunny graduating magna cum laude with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) in 2017 and returning to become a faculty member in 2021.
Sunnys life took a significant turn that day, but her story actually began about three years earlier, in 2012
Post-Graduate Plans Take a Detour
Sunny had just earned her Bachelor of Science in Biology from Mt. St. Marys University in Los Angeles, and she was accepted into medical school. However, shed observed physicians oftentimes being burned out and spending less time with patients than the nurses, and this concerned her, so she decided to put medical school on hold and take a gap year to figure things out.
Sunny moved to Texas with her family and began applying to physicians assistant programs, but she was having little luck. Before she knew it, her gap year turned into gap years, and she had yet to take the next step in her life following her 2012 graduation.
By her own admission, my mom wanted me off the couch, and so on a Thursday in 2015, Sunnys mom took her to the WCU-Texas campus. Alyza was skeptical. She didnt want to go to nursing school and become a nurse like her mom, and so when she arrived on campus, she poked and prodded and looked for reasons not to go. Ultimately, all she found were reasons to go.
The Decision to Enroll in the WCU-Texas BSN Program
I was very hesitant, but I visited classrooms, and I saw the classroom size. They were small so I didnt feel like a number. I felt like they cared, Sunny said. In medicine, you cant teach someone to care if they dont care themselves, and I felt like they cared and that was a big thing for me. And then they showed me the simulation lab, and I was blown away.
So, Sunnys mom asked, Okay, whats next? They were told the next term was starting on Monday, and there was a seat available. Sunny enrolled and was in class that Monday as a brand-new nursing student.
West Coast changed my life in a matter of days, she said.
Sunny finished her BSN in less than two years because she was able to transfer in many of her classes from Mt. St. Marys and jump right into the core nursing program. She then proceeded to get her nurse practitioners degree from Houston Baptist in 2020, and the next step was to begin working at a hospital/healthcare facility. At the time, teaching wasnt anywhere in her thinking process.
But right around the time of her graduation from Houston Baptist, Sunny also wanted to start a family, and with COVID-19 in its early days, she didnt want to be around patients. So, she reached out to the WCU Alumni Association and scratched an itch that shed had since she was very little.
Teaching Has Been an Absolute Dream
I always wanted to be an English teacher, Sunny said. But her educational path went in a different direction, and so teaching was never a serious consideration. Until now. A year later, in the summer of 2021, Sunny was in front of a classroom full of students at WCUs brand-new campus in Richardson, Texas, teaching N100, Fundamentals of Nursing.
And its been a moving experience for her, so much more than a job.
After having my daughter, I realized that these nurses that Im teaching, if something happened to her and she had to go to the hospital, they could be taking care of her, Sunny said. And if I went into the hospital and saw one of my former students, Id immediately be at ease.
What an amazing thing it is to be shaping these nurses who may be taking care of my family someday. I love it. Its been an absolute dream.
Alyza Sunny, WCU BSN graduate and faculty member
What an amazing thing it is to be shaping these nurses who may be taking care of my family someday, she said. I love it. Its been an absolute dream.
Amazing indeed.
Sunnys class covers a little bit of everything students will see and experience, from IV fluids and nutrition to medication administration to infection control and oxygenation, and so much more. And her teaching style aligns with her enthusiastic and engaging personality lots of interactive learning activities like how to take off the germs by removing your equipment in an orchestrated manner that goes, in order, gloves first, then eyewear, then robe, and then finally mask.
I enjoy having a very active classroom, Sunny said. They are not just listening to me lecture for five hours we act things out. They can learn a lot from me, but they can also learn so much from their peers, and that peer learning also helps to create long-lasting relationships.
Just like the one Alyza formed with 返字心頭.
WCU provides career guidance and assistance but cannot guarantee employment. The views and opinions expressed are those of the individuals and do not necessarily reflect the beliefs or position of the school or of any instructor or student.
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