Danielle Diaz '18

After completion of the pre-health track and a biology major at Knox, Danielle is going on to a Masters in Science program for nursing at the University of Illinois in Chicago. Diaz explains how her journey brought her from a larger school to Knox and now, into a nursing career. 

Would you tell us about how you applied for different nursing programs after Knox, and which you were accepted to?

I began applying the Fall of my senior year, but I really started connecting with the Pre-Health adviser, Mary Jane Shroyer, when I first got to Knox in 2015. We talked about nursing and how I could get into it without majoring in "nursing". I was accepted into three different schools but all of the programs were relatively the same. DePaul University was the first school I was accepted into. The program was called "Direct Entry Graduate Nursing for Non-Nursing Majors." I was also accepted into Marquette University for the same program, and the program at UIC is called "Graduate Entry Master of Science" program for nursing.

Which of those did you choose?

I will graduate from the University of Illinois at Chicago in the Winter of 2022, but I plan to go further and get my doctorate in Nursing while I am there.

Tell me about a class, activity, or professor that taught you something you would use in your later career.  

I had an amazing opportunity to have a health studies internship that was basically built in to one of my classes. I worked alongside the Respiratory therapist director at OSF in order to create a smoking cessation program that would be implemented for patients with COPD caused by smoking. If it weren't for Knox and the Health Studies Internship class, I would have never discovered my passion for one-on-one care with patients. Through the internship, I was also able to shadow different nurses and doctors in different areas of the hospital. I got to see a pacemaker surgery happening IN the actual operation room. I also was able to shadow a doctor in the ICU and see how he interacted with his patients. I feel that this internship really prepared me for all the ups and downs of the medical world!

When thinking ahead to the next steps of your career, what are you most excited about?

I am most excited about finally getting into the actual hospital atmosphere and really being hands on. Knox classes were extremely hands on in other areas, but this time I will actually be in a working environment for a lot of my clinical and classes. I'm also excited to just be a Knox alum and take what I learned from Knox, not just in the classroom, out to the "real world".

How did you choose Knox?

I actually have lived near Galesburg my whole life, about ten minutes away. So I had heard of Knox but when I first got out of high school I had my eyes on larger schools. Once I went to said larger school, I was not happy with my choice, so I started looking at small schools near where I grew up. I checked out a few schools, like Monmouth and Augustana, and then with some encouragement from a friend who already went to Knox, I decided to visit.

I fell in love. I sat in on a class and I loved how interactive the professors were with the students and how the way the students were learning seemed really fun. So on a whim I left my big school and transferred to Knox, and I started my sophomore year here. It was the best decision I've made!

What did you expect to get out of Knox when you chose it? Describe ways your experience here met or didn't meet your initial expectations.

I really had no expectations coming in. I was just excited to be in a place that felt like home and would be conducive to my own personal growth both academically and socially. Knox exceeded anything I could have ever imagined. I joined a sorority, I got an amazing internship, I worked for the office of admissions and a football coach, I became very close with a lot of my professors and I met some of the most amazing friends here. I was surprised that in such a small town there could be this amazing school with such diverse people. I was also amazed at how inclusive Knox was. It felt so special to be surrounded by so many people that were so different yet we all had this one thing in common, we all chose Knox for whatever reason. It binds so many people together and I think the friendliness of students, faculty and professors is one of the very best things about this school.

What advice do you have for high schoolers and high school graduates who are still looking for an undergraduate school?

Don't count a school out if you haven't gathered your information about it. I did that to Knox because I saw the words "liberal arts." I automatically assumed I could never go into nursing from this school, BUT that's absolutely not true.