Alexandra Peary

Since graduating from the University of Maine School of Nursing program in December ‘22 , I have been working as a pediatric nurse at Children’s National Hospital in Washington D.C. While beginning my career in pediatrics has been a steep learning curve, my unique experiences in both the School of Nursing and the Honors College have given me the academic foundation necessary to face these challenges head on. 

One of the biggest academic endeavors to shape my nursing practice was my honors thesis, which is a year-long reflective research project that integrates your experiences in both the honors college and your respective academic department. UMaine School of Nursing faculty connected me with the Let’s Go! program, a nationally recognized childhood obesity prevention program through MaineHealth, to develop a project on how COVID-19 impacted approaches to physical activity in Maine schools. During this time, I worked closely with two UMaine nursing faculty members, Dr. Kelley Strout and Dr. Kathryn Robinson. Having only completed one nursing research course (NUR310) and one research preparation course (HON391) at the time, the knowledge and insight that these two nursing faculty members gave me was critical to my successful thesis defense.  Dr. Strout and Dr. Robinson guided me through applying for a Center for Undergraduate Research (CUGR) Fellowship, provided their expertise on qualitative data analysis methods, and even nominated me to attend the Sigma Nursing Creating Healthy Work Environments in March of 2022. It’s no coincidence that I now live where I attended my first nursing conference over a year ago. UMaine nursing stands out to me because they provided me with the invaluable gift of mentorship, something you may not always get to experience in a mid-size institution. My mentors and professors in the UMaine School of Nursing laid the foundation for me to be comfortable seeking out mentors in my new role, to never be afraid to ask questions, and to never stop learning. For these reasons, I will always be grateful that I chose the University of Maine.