MEET CONNOR.

Flute and piccolo player in the UVA Marching Band. Distinguished major. Loves professor Ashley Apple, clinical instructor John Jimenez, patient education, and his nursing ethics courses. Cat dad to “Fig,” his toddler-feline, and president of qRN, a group that supports LGBTQIA+ students and their allies through service, advocacy, and community.

After working as a health unit coordinator across units at UVA Health, now a patient care tech at UVA Health’s coronary care unit. Future community health nurse.

WHY NURSING?

“Starting in high school I knew I wanted to go into a helping profession and spend time with people. When my grandfather, J.D., was diagnosed with stage four lung cancer, he was in the hospital a lot. When I got into nursing school, he was over the moon. He loved his nurses, and I heard his stories, and I thought, ‘That’s what I want to do.’

“I know what sucks to hear as a patient . . . I also think dealing with chronic fatigue and chronic pain helps me be a better nurse, too. I have a lot of patients who say they feel like they’re a burden or that they’re unreliable, that is something I had felt, too. I still don’t tell them, ‘I understand,’ and usually veer away from bringing my own experiences into it, but I’ve definitely felt some of the same struggles as my patients.”

WHY UVA?

“I was led to UVA both by my financial assistance needs and because I knew it was a really good school. I thought I had to weigh this choice: whether I’d have connections, and feel like I fit in, versus going to a school that I knew was highly ranked and could get me places. UVA has been both things. I’ve met a lot of amazing people. And I feel like I’ve had a very well rounded four years, despite coming in at an uncertain time, being part of the high school class of 2020. That was a weird time.”

UVA SCHOOL OF NURSING IN A WORD?

"Commitment. Everyone I've met in the school is really committed to nursing and to seeing one another succeed."