The pinning ceremony. It's the right of passage from the end of nursing school to entry into practice, well after they pass their NCLEX exams. Of the pinning ceremonies I've been to I can say Essex County College has done it the best for years. Some schools have got away from the more traditional parts of the ceremony but Essex has held on.
This cohort, The Nursing Class of 2026, was my first class that I had from day one through day done. If you look below you'll see some of them at their first clinical rotation. It was at a long term care facility, a tough one, near the school, and I remember their quick growth as they were thrown in to work right from the jump. They look so young to me now.
Now if you look above at the gentlemen next to me to my left and the young lady to my right. Two of my top students over the years. That was fall 2023. Now look below and you will see the same two last night at their pinning. All gussied and grown up.
It wasn't always an easy ride, they'll tell you the same, and surviving nursing school is one of the hardest things one can do, especially an associates degree program. It's quick, it's fast, and it's a lot of learning and things to do, and the exams are just killers for some.
Surviving nursing school is not only an accomplishment but it's a life changer as well. For many students this accomplishment will offer their families stability, financial reward through hard work, and endless possibilities as nursing provides so many paths one can travel.
For me it will be my last pinning as a nursing faculty member. I put my letter of resignation in effective August 1st just a few months shy of when I would be up for tenure. I don't need tenure. I just need to work. My last day of teaching will be next Thursday and then it will be off to another opportunity, hopefully closer to home. But Essex will always be my home, no matter where I land.