Student spotlight: Nathan Ropelewski
Meet Nathan Ropelewski, class of 2024. As a new nursing student in the accelerated BS program, he is learning early that VCU offers the resources and support he needs to build a solid foundation so he can achieve his eventual career goal of becoming a nurse anesthetist. Read on for more on his experience in the program so far, what drew him to VCU and how his graduate degree in biomedical sciences played into his pivot to nursing as his next step.
What’s it like to be a part of the accelerated BSN program at the VCU School of Nursing?
We hit the ground running on May 22 and we have been moving full steam ahead ever since. Thanks to some very generous donations, many students in my cohort received the Joanne and William Conway Nursing Scholarship which is helping make our goal of becoming nurses much more attainable.
What drew you to pursue a nursing education at VCU after previously earning a master’s in biomedical sciences?
My original career goal was to attend medical school. After getting an undergraduate degree in psychology and attempting the MCAT the first time, I decided that getting a masters could help better prepare me for the rigor of medical school and improve my chances for doing well on the MCAT. During my time in that program I began to shift from a diagnostic and scientific perspective of medicine to a holistic approach focused on the individual. I also began to understand that my passions were focused on people and providing them with the highest levels of care. As I began to study for the MCAT again, my heart just was not in it. After grad school I worked in corporate america trying to figure out what I wanted to do, and how I wanted to put my passion for people into practice. While I found some personal satisfaction in all these positions, I continued to have a strong desire to make measurable impacts on people I worked with on a daily basis. On a very practical level, I always felt that something was missing–square peg, round hole sort of thing. I realized that I wanted to work with my hands, that sitting behind a desk for 40 years was not for me. I began to explore different options within the medical field–physician assistant, dentist, physical therapy, and finally nursing.
It came down to this: As a nurse I would be able to wake up every day, work closely with a patient, build a rapport with them, and have the opportunity to change their life for the better.
Nathan Ropelewski, Class of 2024
What are you most looking forward to during your time at VCU? What courses, research, or clinical experiences do you feel will be most helpful to your future plans?
As a hands-on learner, I am most interested in the opportunity to be able to spend time with patients in the hospital. With VCU being the premier medical center in Richmond, I know that I will see a wide variety of scenarios to build my nursing acumen. I believe the best nurse is a well-rounded one, so I am looking forward to any and all opportunities provided to me in skills labs and clinicals.
How do you plan to use your VCU nursing education to pursue a career in anesthesia?
VCU has a reputation for educating excellent nurses and providing the best care possible. With such a strong educational foundation, there is very little that I feel I will not be able to achieve in the nursing field. The well-rounded education that VCU School of Nursing provides will be easily applicable to any career that I feel called to. Specifically focusing on anesthesia, I am hopeful the high quality of this education will allow me to move into a position in an ICU that will provide the essential foundations for a competitive application and career as a nurse anesthetist.
by Moira Neve
Categories News, Students