Graduating senior, Molly Melton, spends her time between the University’s Columbia and Lancaster campuses. Though she is a student at Columbia, she is able to do most of her classwork and tests at the Lancaster campus, convenient because she lives closer to that campus. Before pursuing her undergraduate degree in Nursing, she worked for six years as a student athletic trainer from her involvement in sports medicine in high school. She grew up watching her parents support their community through her mother’s work as a nurse and her father’s job as a sheriff deputy. Between her family’s influence and her experiences working with people in trauma, she shared that “I always knew I would be a nurse. When I found my love for trauma, I knew I wanted to be an emergency nurse.” 

Between classes, volunteering in the community, research projects, and her role as the Vice-President of the Lancaster chapter of the Student Nursing Association, Molly understands that college can be busy and even overwhelming at times. Her strategy for managing everything is to prioritize organization. She makes a list each week with the most important items to tick off at the top and works her way down. Sometimes she is even able to tackle items that may be further out in the semester because of her careful planning. She shared that her friends, a close-knit group who share similar interests, help to keep her motivated and inspired, even on the busiest days.

Since Molly recently turned over the role of SNA VP to a new student, she is working on other goals, which include completing three Graduation with Leadership Distinctions in Research, Community Service, and Professional and Civic Engagement, as well as mapping out her future. Her ultimate dream is to work for Atrium Heath’s MedCenter Air flight team. For other students, her advice is for them to get involved and network from your very first day in college. She shared that opportunities come if students are open to them, and the benefits—mental, academic, and career-wise—are sure to be endless.