From time to time, we like to showcase a new SNC grad who’s entered the workplace or grad school. Success stories like these are pretty common. In fact, 95 percent of SNC's Class of 2022 alumni who responded to a survey said they were employed, in grad school or doing service work within nine months of graduating.

Hometown: Green Bay, Wis.
Graduation year: 2019
Degree: Bachelor of Science (Nursing)
Plans after graduation: Jordan joined Aspirus Wausau Hospital as an RN in the neonatal intensive-care unit.

You didn’t start at St. Norbert …

I was originally at UW-Madison for my first semester. When you’re a high-school senior, the idea in your head is to leave the area. I thought I wanted to go to a Big 10 school. So, I pushed the idea of SNC aside; a huge mistake on my part. It’s a lot harder to make friends and join associations at bigger schools. The teacher-to-student ratio was too large. Class sizes were like 350 for chemistry. Lots of study groups were run by teaching assistants who did a lot of our grading. It’s also really hard to get into their nursing school. It’s a great place, just not for me. Here, I talked with a counselor about the nursing program and the bridge to Bellin. It was a great fit. I knew I wanted to be a NICU nurse and that I’d be transferring to Bellin College by junior year.

What were classes like at SNC?

I took my general education classes here: biology, micro-biology and other core classes. Coming here and being in a lab with only 15 other students was so beneficial. Professor Bailey for biology was amazing. That was the first time I really enjoyed my science classes. I got to work with cadavers in the Gehl-Mulva Science Center for my human anatomy class and that was a really cool thing; not everyone gets to do that. I also took an amazing communication course with Professor Herrman. I learned how important it is to communicate well and form relationships. It’s such an important factor in building a foundation and helping you move to your next stage of life in business, with supervisors, just everybody. When I volunteered in the neonatal intensive-care unit at St. Vincent Hospital, that communication course helped me form strong relationships with the staff, supervisors and parents.

In addition to volunteering, what other activities did you try?

I joined the dance team. I started classes in January and tryouts were later in the spring. I tried out and was on the dance team my sophomore year.

Now you’ve lined up your ideal nursing job …

I accepted a position at Aspirus Wausau Hospital in their NICU. It’s pretty rare to be a new RNBSN graduate and get right into an intensive-care unit. Typically, you do medical surgery, basic care for adults first. But just through my communication skills, building relationships, making connections and putting myself out there, I was able to squeeze my way into a dream position. I even had two separate offers. My goal is to work for a couple of years in the NICU setting, then go back to school for my master’s degree as a nurse practitioner. I have had such a solid foundation in De Pere and Green Bay; I feel like I’ve found myself here. I might move away and expand my horizons for a bit, but I’ll come back to this area to raise a family someday.

Any final thoughts about your year-and-a-half at SNC?

Having the friendly faces, the helpful faculty and building my communication skills has been fantastic. The campus does a great job of creating its own unique environment here, separate from Green Bay. It feels like you are in a new community. You can come here from Chicago or wherever and realize there is a lot to do outside of campus. But as a local, it can also feel like its own friendly community, separate from the rest of Green Bay.