Graduates must brace for constant change
		Doctoral student Cathy Vena (left) and Carolyn Constantin are all smiles after Carolyn became the first Emory graduate to receive a PhD in nursing. Mary Tierny, president of The Associates, congratulates Lauren Markowitz as the BSN recipient of the Silver Bowl Award. Cheron Hardy received the Silver Bowl Award for MSN students. Dean Marla Salmon presented nursing senior Julie Buff with an award for excellence in pediatric nursing during the Woodruff Tea.			t was a day of firsts at the 98th diploma ceremony in May. The Class of 2003 became the first undergraduate class to complete their nursing education in the school’s new building. Dr. Carolyn Constantin became the first person at Emory to receive a doctoral degree in nursing. And Rachel Shaw, 03N, received one of the first Boisfeuillet Jones Medals, awarded just prior to graduation. Named for one of the university’s most distinguished leaders, the Jones Medals recognize Emory seniors who demonstrate outstanding leadership, service, citizenship, and academic excellence.         The School of Nursing honored several other individuals as well. Lauren Markowitz, 03N, and Cheron Hardy, 03MSN, each received the  traditional Silver Bowl Award for academic excellence and dedication to nursing. Two days earlier, during the Woodruff Tea, Julie Buff, 03N, accepted an award for excellence in pediatric nursing, while Leslie Holmes, clinical associate in Family and Community Health Nursing, received the Emory Williams Award for Distinguished Teaching.         In any event, all of the graduates had reason to celebrate and reflect on the next phase of their lives as nurses.         “You have had the distinction of learning alongside some of the finest nursing faculty in the nation,” said commencement speaker Dr. Mary Wakefield. “I’m confident that, over the course of your careers, more will be expected of you because of your ties to this institution and the scholars and leaders you found here.”       Wakefield, professor and director of the Center for Rural Health at the University of North Dakota, counseled graduates to brace themselves for constant change and challenges in health care—culturally diverse patients, an aging population, poor access to quality health care for millions of people, a barrage of new technology and pharmaceuticals, savvy consumers prepared to make informed choices about their health care, and more.          “We don’t have a Florence Nightingale with us to share a vision of exactly what nursing solutions might lessen the burden of people for whom you will care,” said Wakefield. “But the good news is we have you. We have your newly minted knowledge, your skills, your ideas, and ultimately your leadership. I encourage each of you to aim high for yourselves and for the differences you can make in people’s lives.”
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