Our Stories
1953
Sylvia Ferrell Alderson :: Class of 1953 and MSN 1976
My student days at VUSN included my first experience with people from all walks of life, and varying educational and socio-economic levels, a humbling experience... [read story]
1958
Margaret Jacobson :: BSN 1954, MSN 1958
In 1950 I was not a typical student at VUSN. I didn’t live on the Campus. I was married with two young children and had been out of nursing for eight years. At that time all other School of Nursing students lived in Mary Kirkland Hall ... [read story]
1966
Ginger Trundle Manley :: BSN 1966, MSN 1981
When the VUSN Class of 1966 arrived on the Vanderbilt campus in September of 1962, we did not realize that we were becoming a part of history... [read story]
Ellen Eisendrath McGeady :: BSN 1966
I don't know if this is a particularly funny memory, but it sure is one that has stayed with me all these years... [read story]
1980
Annie Dehaye Santucci :: MSN 1980
I was already a nurse and a professor of nursing in Brussels when I had the opportunity to spend 2 years in Nashville while my husband did a postdoc at Vanderbilt University.... [read story]
1981
Mary Pike :: MSN 1981
I have so many fond memories of VUSN and the people that made up the learning environment. I enrolled in the M.S.N. medical-surgical track in fall, 1980... [read story]
1986
Julia Sawyers Triplett, BSN, MS, MBA :: Class of 1986
As a young girl, I was always interested in helping others. Nurse Nancy was one of my favorite childhood books, and I played the part ... [read story]
1989
Leslie Modena, RN, BSN, CWOCN :: Class of 1989
When I decided to return to school, to earn a master’s degree and become a nurse practitioner, I’d been a nurse for fifteen years. Vanderbilt was my choice for several reasons: I wanted to move my family from rural Tennessee to an urban setting, and I knew Vanderbilt had a good reputation. Beyond that, I had no idea what to expect. At the time, my children were nine, twelve, and fourteen... [read story]
2003
Whitney Simmons :: Class of 2003
In order to establish good bedside manner, nursing students first have to practice with mannequins in the skills lab. I’m easily tickled and... [read story]
Melissa A. Laughrey, Capt, USAF, NC
I work at a small base that has a primary care clinic with three family practice physicians, three flight medicine physicians and one pediatrician. I primarily work as an registered nurse for the family practice/peds doctors.... [read story]
Heather Hall Newman :: VUSN Public Relations Officer
When I came to the Vanderbilt University School of Nursing in 2003, as Public Relations Officer, they had not had someone assigned to cover news and events out of the school before ... [read story]
2007
Kathy Rivers :: VUSN Information Officer
I will never forget the day that I had the honor of informing Dean Colleen Conway-Welch about how the School catapulted several spots to reach the Top 20 U.S. News and World Reports' 2007 Ranking ... [read story]
Sara Brumbeloe, MSN :: Class of 2007
I think one of the funniest episodes during my year at Vanderbilt occured at the beginning of the second semester. Leslie was handing out clinical assignments ... [read story]
