Janel Drozd grew up wanting to be a nurse.
Circumstances when she was younger diverted her toward a career in transportation, so when she got the chance to go back to school for nursing, Drozd, of Griffith, got right on it. She proudly counted herself among some 300 candidates who crossed the dais Saturday during Purdue Northwest’s Fall graduation ceremony December 14.
On Monday, she started the first day of her new career as a neuro nurse at a local hospital.
“My grandmother who raised me had several health issues, so I was always interested in working in healthcare because of her,” Drozd said. “My grandmother was epileptic, and my great-grandmother passed away from a ruptured brain aneurysm, so anything neuro really interests me.”
Keynote speaker Wayne Breitzke, a 2009 graduate and founder of Valparaiso-based marketing firm WeCreate Media, told the graduates that rather than give them questionable advice, he wanted to share three mindset shifts that propelled him to where he is today. One was that asking what you’re getting from a job is not the right question.
“‘What are the salary perks? Will there be free coffee? Can we wear sweatpants? Do we even need pants?’ Yes, you need pants,” he said. “But what I’m getting at is instead of asking what I’m getting, you should be asking ‘What am I becoming?’ No plan has you being average, so be above-average. Have an intensity to win and above-average kindness.”
Graduates also can’t predict the future, and that’s true, but the future also looks a lot like the past in a lot of ways, so you can plan for it, according to Breitzke.
“Think of the Chicago Bears: ‘This is our year!’ typically becomes, ‘There’s always next year.’ You can’t control the seasons, but you can prepare how to react,” he said.
Finally, everyone has a gift, and your imagination is a preview to what’s possible.
“You know how you tell someone a great idea, and they kind of tell you, ‘I don’t see it?’ That’s because it just wasn’t planted in their brain,” he said. “Your dreams are meant to guide you. Life is going to test your imagination, but life isn’t what happens to you; it’s how you respond.”
Since Drozd already graduated from PNW once, she had an idea what school was going to be like, and her nursing program was as tough as she expected. She loved it anyway.
“It was also such a wonderful and supportive environment. I can’t say enough good things about it,” she said.
Terra Morgan, of Park Forest, Illinois, was having fun striking poses with her family after the ceremony. Morgan went back to school to get her bachelor’s in Marketing, digital marketing and sales after serving a stint in the U.S. Navy.
“The Navy helped me with structure and being around other people. I had some great teachers,” she said. “I’m going to miss a lot of people.”
There were 650 candidates who received degrees this fall, including 463 baccalaureate degrees, 184 master’s degrees and three earning Nursing doctorates, PNW spokesman Kale Wilk said in a release.
Michelle L. Quinn is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
