Sophia Roberts ’22 has always loved science. As a child, Roberts found herself carefully observing the treatment her father received for several cardiac issues he faced. No one in her family worked in health care, so the field was entirely new to her. Roberts had a lot of questions for the people who helped treat her dad, and fortunately they were happy to answer them. By the time she was a teenager, the Central New York native found herself increasingly drawn to the study of anatomy and to the idea of working with people. She recently graduated from Le Moyne’s Degree in Three Program in nursing, and now serves as a registered nurse in the Emergency Department of Saint Luke’s Campus of the Mohawk Valley Health System in Utica, N.Y.
She could not imagine a more rewarding vocation.
When people enter the Emergency Department, they are often “frightened, in pain or confused,” Roberts says. She immediately works to establish a rapport with them, introducing herself and answering their questions to the best of her ability. Then she helps to provide whatever medical intervention is possible. The work is demanding and the pace is often frenetic. Roberts calls it “organized chaos.” However, watching a patient recover, or being present for his or her loved ones at a difficult time, make all of the effort worthwhile. In the future, she hopes to continue her education and perhaps to go to work in the operating room as a registered nurse first assist.
She credits her time at Le Moyne and the mentorship of people like Cathy Brownell, Ph.D., RN, director of the College’s nursing program, with helping to set her on this path
“Once I toured the campus, I knew that this was the right place for me,” she says.
Among the attributes that make Le Moyne’s nursing program distinct is that it offers prospective students direct admission to the program, with a seat guaranteed to them if they meet certain academic requirements. In addition, students are able to take nursing courses during their first year in the program. They also have access to a number of academic resources, including the College’s Writing Center and Quantitative Reasoning Center and a professional nursing tutor.