The Calling

One of my most fondest memories centers around Christmas Day when I was four years old. I remember grabbing a box with red metallic paper and a big white bow. I ripped open the paper and the box and discovered a toy that would forever change my life---a toy nurses’ kit. The case with a handle carried a plastic stethoscope, syringe, thermometer, tongue depressor, and a reflex hammer. I was so elated. Carrying around that kit made me feel like a superhero. Fortunately, my father, mother, and siblings developed a level of patience because I terrorized them day and night, requesting to take temperatures, assess throats, check reflexes, and listen to heartbeats.

I was the daughter of a minister and a social worker, so the constant moral theme in our home was that of servanthood. There is great inspiration that flows from the eloquent yet profound words of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., “Everybody can be great because anybody can serve…You only need a heart full of grace and a soul generated by love”.  For me, it made sense that medicine, more specifically nursing, encompassed the heart of service and healing.

Of course, life happens, so I didn’t immediately go to college to pursue medicine or nursing. Instead, I originally attended college to pursue political science, which eventually led to teaching at an alternative high school and then becoming Assistant Director for that school. I then met my husband and had two beautiful children. However, something was tugging on my heart and drawing me back to my original calling….nursing.

The final persuader was a vivid dream I had of my deceased father. In the dream, I saw myself lying down on a cot in a hospital room, and on the edge of the cot sat my father, beaming with a smile, but he had no words. With tears in my eyes, I quickly sat up and attempted to reach out to him, but as my hand was about to grab his arm, he vanished. I knew in my heart that the dream was a sign from God that it was time for me to go back to school and pursue nursing.

We are all born for a purpose, and the reality of destiny lies in one’s ability to courageously utilize their gifts, talents, and intellect to pursue the call. The journey that aligns with the pursuit will be filled with challenges, but it’s the calling that continually guides you like a gentle touch on the shoulder. A true calling is relentless, and if you try to ignore it, somehow, some way, and in some form, it will circle back, illuminating the journey set before you. The confirmation is when you are soaring in your calling. I loved being at the bedside, but over the years, I realized that my true calling was in leadership. Strength is in numbers because it reaches the masses. The ability to cultivate fertile ground for other nurses to feel empowered, to thrive, and to become their best selves is a blessing.

Nursing can be a daunting responsibility and requires you to keep your critical thinking hat activated at all times. In the hospital, nurses are at the bedside 24/7, are the eyes and ears for physicians, and must be ready to act instantaneously when it comes to saving a patient's life. Whether you work remotely or in a hospital, clinic, school, office, or corporate setting, you are the superhero in every scenario. You are granted the opportunity to be a healer, to make someone smile, to cheer someone with laughter, to demonstrate compassion and empathy, to advocate for those who cannot advocate for themselves, to be a listening ear, to counsel, to research, and to be a guiding light for those who desperately need you.

In the end, the call to serve is both a gift and a responsibility—one that shapes us just as much as we shape the lives entrusted to our care. Every step along my journey, from that little red-wrapped nurses’ kit to the quiet affirmations whispered through dreams, has led me to this place of purpose. And as I continue forward, I carry with me the unwavering belief that nursing is more than a profession; it is a sacred promise to show up with grace, resilience, and love. I hope that in answering this call, I not only honor the legacy of those who poured into me but also help inspire the next generation of healers to rise with courage and conviction.