Students Tell Their Stories

Scholarship Recipient Prepares for New Job at Fairlawn Rehabilitation Hospital

Sara Martel

As Sara Martel walks across the stage at WSC’s commencement in May, she can rest assured that she will have a job at Fairlawn Rehabilitation Hospital, thanks to a partnership between the hospital and the College. It will be a dream come true for Sara.

“I knew ever since I was about 5 years old that I wanted to be a nurse,” she said during her interview for the Opportunity for a Lifetime campaign video. “My mother volunteered at a nursing home, and I used to go with her every Saturday for about 10 hours. I knew that was what I wanted to do when I was old enough. I’m a caring person, and I love to be helping somebody that needs my services.”

A native of western Massachusetts and from a working class family, Sara said she applied to WSC because of its Nursing program’s “excellent reputation” and the College’s affordability. She was equally impressed by our program’s clinical sites, which include UMass Memorial Hospital. “I knew that if I came out of here as nursing [graduate], I would be one of the best nurses around,” she said.

WSC has lived up to those expectations. “My experience here with the faculty has been amazing,” Sara said. “Everybody at this school is so caring and they just really care about our well being and what we’re going to be doing for the rest of our lives.” But her favorite professor is Barbara Ann Giguere, Ed.D., in part because “she brings nursing to life for all of us.”

Receiving the Fairlawn Rehabilitation Hospital Scholarship in 2006-2007 and the WSC Academic Excellence in Nursing Award “have really aided me in being able to continue my education here to actually become a nurse,” Sara said. She has also worked as a resident assistant and is involved in campus life as a cheerleader and Class of 2008 vice president.

“My scholarships that I’ve been awarded … have definitely given me the opportunity of a lifetime to be what I’ve always dreamed of being, a nurse,” she said.

President Ashley and Fairlawn Rehabilitation Hospital CEO Peter M. Mantegazza recently announced the continuation of this collaborative partnership that assured Martel a job upon graduation and significantly reduced her college expenses. Fairlawn has agreed to offer a second $50,000 grant to provide scholarships to senior Nursing majors who commit to at least one year of service to Fairlawn upon graduation from WSC.