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Called to Heal
Students have a variety of reasons for choosing where to attend college. For Farah Yekzaman, William Jewell was the best place to pursue her life’s calling.
Farah originally planned to study dentistry, but these plans changed when her life took an unexpected turn. “The summer of my senior year in high school, my father was diagnosed with brain cancer,” Farah remembered.
This ordeal took her family to Duke University in North Carolina, where the same surgeon who later performed U.S. Senator Ted Kennedy’s own brain procedure operated on her dad.
“I was totally inspired by the doctors and nurses. I knew I would love to help people in that way they had helped my dad,” she said.
Nursing became Farah’s calling. After researching all of the nursing programs in the area and the state, she “fell in love with Jewell.”
“I really love the environment, and especially how approachable professors are,” she said. “Every professor has high standards for students. They are eager for students to achieve.”
In addition to the rigor of Jewell’s top-rated nursing program, Farah has been involved in all aspects of the campus. She was an Emerging Leader, a Resident Assistant, and a member of Alpha Gamma Delta Sorority and Sigma Theta Tau nursing honor society. Farah was also elected Secretary of her nursing class and Homecoming Queen of the College.
During college Farah has worked part-time as a nursing technician at Liberty Hospital, where she will continue to work in labor and delivery after graduation. She eventually would like to pursue additional education to become a Nurse Practitioner.
Farah’s sister, Lily, a sophomore, has followed in her footsteps and is also participating in the nursing program.
Her own personal story has helped Farah relate to her patients, she said: “It takes a focus off yourself as a nurse to know that other people experience what you have experienced, and so much worse.”
For Farah, the role of a nurse is to serve the community and the whole person. “Yes, we’re there to help someone’s physical well-being,” she said. “But we’re also there to just heal them – mentally and emotionally, as well. That’s the task I believe we should take on.”
When Farah describes her vocation, there is no doubt it is her passion. “Life is so precious,” she said, with a sincerity that comes only from one who truly understands this lesson.
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