May 5, Lamar Community College Nursing graduates danced their way into the LCC Wellness Center to celebrate their accomplishments with the annual Nurse Pinning.

The Nurse Pinning ceremony is a traditional rite of passage that each nursing student completes before entering the profession.  Fifty-four students were pinned including 31 from the Level I (Practical Nursing) and 23 from the Level II (Associate Degree in Nursing/Registered Nurse) programs. 

Two graduating students, Acacia Truitt and Tamela Williams, were selected by their classmates to speak at the event.  Both discussed the highs and lows of their time as Nursing students, including successes in clinicals and the sacrifice of time away from family, prompting some laughs as well as happy tears from their classmates. 

The two classes, Practical Nursing (Level I) and then Registered Nurse (Level II), were then pinned by a registered nurse of their choosing.  Each graduating student prepared remarks ahead of time thanking faculty, classmates, friends and family for their help and guidance through the program.  These remarks were read during their pinning by their classmates. 

Finally, the students participated in the lighting of the Florence Nightingale Lamp, symbolizing the transfer of knowledge from nursing faculty to nursing students.  The students then joined their family and friends in the audience and invited all Nurses in attendance to join them in reciting the Nurses’ Pledge. 

A reception for graduates and their families immediately followed the celebration.