Portrait of Ciara Whiteside (Courtesy of Ciara Whiteside)

For The Angler’s first student spotlight, Ciara Whiteside shares topics such as her journey in nursing, experience as a library assistant, and collection of vinyl records.

The Fulfillment of Nursing.

Ciara discussed that various factors contributed to her desire of becoming a nurse. It all began with her passion for science in high school.

“I actually started pursuing nursing in high school…I love science. That’s what works in my brain. It just makes sense. So, I fell into a health science program in high school. Then, I heard specifically about NICU nursing…”

Neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) nursing focuses on caring for premature infants. This particular category of nursing resonated with Ciara’s love for children. At a young age, she began volunteering and has continued to do so at her church’s nursery.

“I love children. I volunteer at my church, and I have been [volunteering] since I was fifteen. Taking care of babies and children [is] something I’m really passionate about.”

These experiences led Ciara to realize her wish to pursue a profession, in which she could actively help others, especially children. Additionally, as a Christian herself, Ciara believed God called her to become a nurse, due to the aforementioned reasons.

“I’m a Christian, and I feel God set me to become a nurse on purpose because He knows that’s where my heart is.”

When Ciara was compared to Mr. Rogers, a Christian who devoted his life to serving others (especially children) through his show “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood,” she confirmed her admiration for him.

“I love to be compared to Mr. Rogers. That’s honestly an honor, it really is.”

During her first semester as a nursing student, Ciara originally felt overwhelmed and confused, since she originally did not possess a complete understanding of what working in the medical field was like.

“I felt like I was behind, and I had a lot of questions…It was a lot of confusion, ’cause I’ve never really worked in the medical field. I did for a little bit, but not long enough to understand everything that was being taught to me.”

However, with the help of her fellow classmates and loving professors, Ciara gradually learned how to effectively manage her school work, which she successfully implemented throughout the rest of her semesters. These accomplishments caused her to eventually become a nursing tutor at LSSC, which coincided with her love of helping others.

“[I wanted] to be resourced to people because of how I felt when I was in [my] first semester. I was lost, I was confused, and I want to make that transition easier for new nursing students, like myself…Now that I interact with the other students…they are so sweet and thankful, and I love teaching and taking care of them. I just like that I can take from my experience, that it was a little rough, but now I can make it not so rough for other people, which I really love to do. I love my job as a tutor.”

Ciara also revealed that a job position as a nursing tutor did not exist at LSSC, until she became one. She noticed a need to support nursing students, and brought the idea to LSSC’s management. They opened the opportunity for her, and now the space is overflowing with nursing students. She hopes it’s something that continues for years to come. Ciara is grateful that LSSC’s staff listened to her ideas for improvement, and took action to better support students.

The following quote from the animated series “Wander Over Yonder” was shared with Ciara as an example of her reasoning for specifically helping other students as a tutor: “The helper seeks to help because he knows what it is to be helpless.” Ciara agreed that said quote resembled how she experienced unpleasant feelings during her first semester, and she would not want anyone else to experience those same feelings. Thus, she made it her goal to help others as a tutor.

Why Would a Nursing Student Work at a Library?

When asked about working at the Cooper Memorial Library, Ciara admitted she initially thought the job would not prepare her for nursing. However, she revealed that working at the library allowed her to develop an essential skill required for nursing: communication.

“[While] working at the library, you have to do a lot of small talk. You have to know how to communicate with people, and you have to know how to do it effectively. Making conversation, making people laugh, and making people smile is something, as a nurse, that you should be able to do. You should be able to talk to anybody and feel comfortable doing it, [which] also makes the patient feel more comfortable. So, while I didn’t learn nursing-specific skills, I learned communication and learned to be a people person, which are great skills for nursing.

Ciara further elaborated how communicating with the library’s employees and guests helped her to expand her comfort zone.

“When I started working at the library, I had some of that awkwardness that a lot of teenagers have. Now, I don’t have that awkwardness. I can talk to anybody and feel totally comfortable…my comfort zone is any place. I just can talk to anybody. And I think it’s because I worked at the library, where you have to talk to everybody.”

Ciara also stated that while working at the library, she was able to demonstrate her Christian faith with her co-workers and the library’s visitors as well.

“I was also able to share my faith with people that work in the library…I was able to be that light to those people that I worked with. And I love all of them, dearly. I miss them. Being a light through Christ in my job and just the way I talked to patrons, hopefully they saw Christ through me. Working with the public also taught me empathy. I learned to meet people where they are, and to show kindness regardless of their circumstances. That experience helped me grow in compassion, which is something I know will serve me well as a nurse.”

Besides emphasizing the importance of communication, Ciara’s job at the library also helped her recognize the importance of community as well, through her interactions with the library’s workers and patrons.

“It [working at the library] just brought me closer to their [the library’s] community. That’s important to me, community. Especially now, with everything that’s happening in the world. Coming together is really important. So, the fact that I was more involved with the community, and I’m not so much anymore, I do kind of miss that. But I have a new community that I’m with, which is nursing.

Ciara’s Vinyl Record Collection

Alongside her passions for Studio Ghibli, thrift shopping, and kayaking, Ciara shared that she loves collecting vinyl records, especially ones from the 70s by artists such as The Carpenters. She believes her fondness for said era’s music is partially due to her parents growing up in the 70s. She also reveals that she was adopted by them in her youth.

“I was adopted when I was a baby and my parents, the people that adopted me…they actually grew up in the 70s. So, I think that’s where I got a lot of my 70s love and affinity for, and they handed me down original press vinyls that you just can’t get, and they’re like my prized possessions. Seriously, I love them. I do have a couple of Carpenters. I have like Elvis, Prince, I have all kinds of stuff. I have ‘Face Value,’ which is a Phil Collins album, so I have all kinds of things.”

Advice for Students

Just like in the first episode of “Apple & Onion,” Ciara first advises students to take every day one step at a time.

“My advice is to take it one day at a time, especially for nursing students, or just any student. You’re gonna get a schedule, and it’s gonna be so overwhelming. But if you take it one day at a time, it’s going to be a lot less overwhelming.”

Afterwards, Ciara suggests students to remember their “little-selves.”

“I always like to remember my little self. Sometimes, I beat myself up, especially when I get a poor exam score, or not something I was expecting, in terms of grading or school performance. But then, I remember my little self and [ask], ‘Would I say those things that I’m saying to myself right now to little version of me?’ And the answer is no! Because we have to be a little bit kinder to ourselves. We are in school because we’re trying to learn. If we knew everything, we wouldn’t be in school.”

Finally, Ciara recommends students to perform actions with both their hearts and minds.

“If you’re gonna do something, do it with your heart, and do it with your mind. You can do something fully with your heart, but if you don’t add that knowledge that you’ve been given in school, it can kind of fall flat. And if you do something with just your mind, but not with your heart, again, it’s gonna fall flat. So, you have to do things with your heart and your mind.”

Ciara graduates from LSSC this semester, receiving her Associate in Science degree in Nursing.

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