by, Nicole Fitzsimmons, News Editor
Manhattan College’s first-ever pre-nursing club has recently been established. This club will provide resources and opportunities to aspiring students looking into the nursing profession post-graduation, or those who are interested in learning more about the field.
Kelly Rojas ‘21, Tatiyana Benitez ‘21 and Stephanie Fandino ‘22 are the three Manhattan College students who had the idea to co-found this club. Even though two of these students are seniors, they are happy to see that the club will have an opportunity to stay at MC after they graduate.
The process of setting up the club was quick, but something senior Kelly Rojas has wanted to do since her sophomore year at Manhattan.
“I have had this idea since sophomore year to start a student-oriented club,” Rojas said.
“It’s really inspired by people who are interested in nursing, and, just the goal is to kind of introduce a new career to Manhattan College since we don’t have one yet. And, I’ve spoken to a lot of students who are interested in nursing, so we figured that it was going to be a good outlet, or specialty for some students.”
This club will provide resources to students who are looking towards a career in the medical field, specifically nursing, which is a process that requires a lot of dedication and work. At Manhattan, this is a perfect opportunity for first-year students to gather a plan of study that will help them stay on track for this career.
“In our first meeting, we had a little gap where we spoke about the timeline to becoming a nurse and we addressed it toward freshmen all the way to seniors,” Rojas said. “We were giving tips on what you could do as a freshman or sophomore to kind of spark your nursing career to see if you even like it. I feel like it is something that is just so new, we’re just introducing the idea. So, I feel that the timeline that we set, for a lot of students, which includes internships and shadowing and that sort of stuff and just looking for schools, that’s something that we kind of expose them to in the beginning.”
Manhattan College’s first-ever pre-nursing club has recently been established.
@MC.PRENURSINGCLUB / COURTESY
The process of going into the medical field is also mentally tolling for some students. The pre-nursing club hopes to be a group that students can turn to when they feel this way.
“Planning to go into the medical field, there’s a lot of work, there’s a lot of anxiety and stress, and it’s hard to do alone, you know,” Benitez said. “So, the kind of goal is also to help create friends and people that are going through the same things you’re going through to help support you get through that.”
However, the club is not for just those who are considering nursing as a profession, or are majoring in the health sciences. The pre-nursing club at Manhattan encourages all majors to join to explore their opportunities in the medical field.
“All of the accelerated nursing programs don’t really require you to be a bio major or health major, which is why we’re advertising it to all majors at Manhattan College, because all you need is the prerequisites that the schools offer you,” Rojas said. “So, you can be an engineering major. And, I’ve gone to a lot of information sessions from pre-COVID, where there’s engineers, and there’s different people in different studies that end up choosing nursing. So nursing is very versatile and can be appealing to people because it’s a specialty in which you can grow.”
It is instead encouraged to major in something you would actually enjoy as a means to balance the stresses of jobs, internships, and experience with a curriculum that can not overload the pressures of the profession.
“I think picking a major that you genuinely like is really important,” Fandino said. “Because, a lot of these healthcare fields, you feel like you need a lot of experience. But, if you’re in a major that you don’t actually enjoy, and you’re trying to pile other stuff, it’s kind of going to tear you apart. So I think taking your prerequisites and classes that you need, but just picking a major that you genuinely enjoy.”
To further help with the process of becoming a nurse, the club has already established an affiliate with a medical representative. In the future, the club plans on bringing up medical professionals to speak at events, creating first-hand advice and experience for students.
For more information about the first pre-nursing club at Manhattan, send an email to prenursingclub@manhattan.edu