As Linfield University-Good Samaritan School of Nursing’s Pinning Ceremony began, 126 soon-to-be nurses were lined up and ready to walk to the stage — but they weren’t alone. Next to each of them stood the person who would affix their Linfield school pin, symbolizing the completion of their nursing studies. The spring Pinning Ceremony, held Sunday, May 28, 2023, was the culmination of months of studying, practicing and testing – all which began admist the COVID-19 pandemic.
Many of these students participated in the traditional commencement ceremony that morning, where they received their Bachelor of Science in Nursing, along with 444 other Linfield students earning master’s or bachelor’s degrees in a variety of disciplines. The Pinning Ceremony, however, is a special tradition for those entering the nursing profession. In a practice dating back to Florence Nightingale, each student receives a school pin from a chosen person — someone who inspires them or someone who supported them on their journey to obtaining their nursing degree. Next to the nursing students today stood best friends, spouses, parents and younger sibilings as the crowd cheered and dabbed away tears.
In his opening remarks, Dean Paul Smith noted that nursing isn’t a job, it’s a calling — one in which they commit “to give hope, to heal, and to help others live with dignity.”
“Your compassion can make a world of difference for those who are vulnerable and scared,” he said.
Ashley Blatchley ’06, the interim chief nursing officer at Legacy Emanuel Medical Center, echoed many of Smith’s sentiments.
“Nursing is an identity,” she said, “one that comes with incredible commitment and responsibility.”
Like Smith, she urged students to take care of themselves without which, she said, it is impossible to take care of others.
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Jasmin Gomez of Portland spoke on behalf of the graduating accelerated BSN cohort. She recalled how at the beginning of their studies, Assistant Professor Vu Truong told them to visualize this very day, and at the time she couldn’t.
“There is something really special about seeing everything you’ve worked for comes to fruition,” she said.
In her speech, Olivia Kinunen, a traditional BSN graduate from Ketchikan, Alaska, celebrated the things they could have only achieved together.
“No one understood us the way that our classmates did. We made mistakes we planned but always for the wrong thing — Simulation, you won’t be missed,” she said. “Most of all, we were vulnerable with each other, and we were resilient.”
Then, the students and their designated person lined up two by two. One student carefully helped his grandmother up the stage steps, sisters hugged as they posed for the official photo and a teenage son smiled as he gently placed the pin on his mother.
Beatriz Rendon Bautista ’18, a first-generation graduate of Salem who previously graduated from Linfield with a degree in public health, chose to have her mentor take part in the special moment. (Hear more about Beatriz’s journey to Commencement on Linfield’s YouTube page.)
Though Rendon Bautista’s doubted she’d complete her nursing degree, Patty Haddeland, director of the Student Health, Wellness and Counseling Center, said there was no doubt in her mind that this day would come.
“I’ve been on Beatriz’ journey for years now from the time she was a student when she worked in our office through the pandemic, and I always knew she was going to do it,” she said. “To be there with her through the pinning ceremony and knowing she’s launching and ready to do the work is thrilling. We’re all going to be better because she’s a nurse.”
A few feet away, Rendon Bautista’s younger sister Adriana was holding a hot pink sign trimmed with beads, daisies and bold lettering in all capitals: YOU ARE OUR ROLE MODEL.
“It’s really humbling. I’ve always worked hard and done my best to make sure I can provide an example for my sisters,” Rendon Bautista said, when asked about her sister’s sign. “I hope they can learn from it, grow from it and then make their own way, whatever they choose to do.”
Originally, her sister said, the sign was going to be quite a bit longer.
“The poster itself was hard — how can I fit on a poster all that I want to say to my older sister on her graduation day?” she said. “How do I embody how much I respect and admire her on such a big day? I literally spent an hour just thinking, then was like, ‘OK, I don’t want to write an entire paragraph.’ The only thing I could think of is that you are our role model. You are the reason why our parents’ sacrifices are worth it. I look at her and I just think of all we’ve gone through as a family these past few years, losing people we haven’t been able to be around for quite a few years. My parents sacrificed that to be here, and give these opportunities to us. Beatriz is the reason why all of that is worth it.”
