Irony, But In A Good Way

[trailerparkmedic]

I'm about to graduate from nursing school (assuming all goes well, knock on wood) and I'm helping to plan our pinning ceremony (like graduation but nursing specific). Friend B (the Muslim friend whose sister was very sick and died over the summer) and the woman from student affairs who is assisting in planning decided that it would be really cool for us to have a "Most Influential Student" award this time. Our class is pretty close and very supportive, and B said "So many people have helped me get through school. There's A and C and D and..." B was really excited about this idea because she wanted to celebrate all the amazing people who had helped her. The whole pinning committee thought that this was an awesome idea and decided that we would have a class wide vote for this student and people would have an opportunity to submit reasons why that student was most influential on the class.

So I set up the survey and I'm watching it tonight, and guess who has almost all of the vote? The great thing is that she has no idea and I can't wait to surprise her at pinning with the amazing things that were said about her. She's the type of person who would never expect this, and that's why she's going to get it.

[Slayer]

Aww, that's going to be a huge thrill for her!

[Amina516]

Thats so awesome!! Im glad to have people like you and your friend join our ranks.

[Food Lady]

This post is making me cry and . That is all.

[Shpepper]

Be prepared with lots of tissues at the ceremony. She will probably need them. That is wonderful.

[Akasa]

Oh that's going to be a sweet memory for her!

[fireheart]

How exactly does a pinning ceremony work?

[Amina516]

How exactly does a pinning ceremony work?

Easiest way to explain it: (thanks Wiki!!)

A pinning ceremony is a symbolic welcoming of newly-graduated nurses into the nursing profession.[1][2] The new nurses are presented with nursing pins by the faculty (ed: Sometimes significant others/bffs etc) of the nursing school.[3] Often the nurses recite the Nightingale Pledge.[4] Some nursing schools have stopped holding the pinning ceremony, claiming it is an outdated ritual.[5]

Basically its a special ceremony found in nursing schools, to reward all the hard work they put in the past few years at school. A little bit of recognition when alot of them deserve a lot more. Usually held in addition to graduation, ive found, but schools differ. That being said, We didnt have a pinning ceremony. But our class bitched so much about it that every class since has had one. :/ Lol.

[trailerparkmedic]

How exactly does a pinning ceremony work?

What Amina said.

Once upon a time nurses wore hats with pins on them. The hats and pins were school specific--if I went to University A and you went to College B, we'd have different hats and pins, even if we worked next to each other on the same unit. You got your cap and pin upon completion of the program, and there are some other traditions associated with a pinning ceremony like reciting the Nightingale pledge and lighting lamps/candles. It was a big deal because you were officially a nurse when you got your cap and pin. Pinnings are still done as a way of recognizing the accomplishments of nursing graduates, since the classes usually become pretty close and nursing school is crazy hard.

My school only has graduation once a year, but the class is free to plan a pinning if they graduate in August or December. So, our pinning ceremony is really a stand in for graduation. We'll get pins instead of diplomas and we'll be wearing snazzy clothes instead of caps and gowns, but it's a chance for our class to come together one last time and feel awesome about surviving school. We are allowing everyone to choose who pins them (we phrased it as "Pick someone who was an inspiration or who played a large role in getting you through school"). I was adamant about that fact, because my husband did a lot more to get me through school than most of my faculty.

[Amina516]

I was adamant about that fact, because my husband did a lot more to get me through school than most of my faculty.

Id have to agree. The fact that my husband and I didnt divorce while I was in school full time and worked full time, well, its a testament to the fact that hes a great man.. Lol. Take lots of pics.

Oh, and I forgot to mention, My school DID give us pins, very ceremoniously delivered by the mail man.

[Lyse]

Given that the school that I did LPN in had the school-wide graduation some months after our program finished, our pinning was our stand in ceremony. It was the one that family and friends came to - I don't think more than a handful of our class was even able to attend the formal graduation. Most of us chose to have family do the pinning - my mom was given permission to use the same pin I pinned on her when I was eight (although, I have the actual pin from my program). Several people in our class had their children pin them.

I second the notion to have an abundance of tissues available (the podium shelf was our choice of location). May I also suggest a group site for posting photos? Sometimes the best pic angle was shot by a classmate's family.