Mid-State Technical College recognized the achievements of its 42 Nursing program completers in a pinning ceremony Dec. 12 on the Wisconsin Rapids Campus. Graduates were joined by their family and friends in the celebration. 

The nursing pinning ceremony is a celebratory endcap to a nursing student’s academic career and a bridge between nursing school and a nursing career. It honors and celebrates nursing students and their journey to becoming a nurse. It is also a day of celebration for the nursing faculty who have helped the students reach their goals. 

“Pinning to me is honoring and celebrating our peers for the hard work and dedication to our journey of becoming a nurse,” said Aiden Gust, class of 2023 Nursing graduate. “We may have all taken a different path to get here, but we have all accomplished a great goal. Pinning is a celebration of joining the nursing field and gaining the ability to work with other nurses to be a patient advocate, promote health and wellness and provide compassionate patient care, wherever our nursing degree takes us. Pinning is the first step in acknowledging our accomplishment and welcoming us into the nursing profession.”

“The nursing pinning ceremony marks the transition from aspiring nursing students to dedicated healthcare professionals,” said Deb Johnson-Schuh, dean of the School of Nursing. “The nursing pin is a symbol of pride and responsibility. It signifies earning the trust of others to be their caregiver and advocate.”

According to Johnson-Schuh, the graduating Nursing program students completed several rigorous courses over the past few years. These courses required them to write numerous nursing care plans, practice endless skills in labs and attend over 750 hours of clinical. 

"The students’ journey to this pivotal point has been challenging and demanding,” Johnson-Schuh added. “Their hard work and determination brought them here today. As they continue in their nursing journey, they will be called upon, to integrate into their practice, the same core values that define Mid-State Technical College: Integrity, commitment, accountability, respect and excellent service.”

For Mid-State’s pinning ceremony, each graduating student selects a registered nurse who is a family member, friend or faculty member to join them on stage to place the nursing pin on the graduate during the ceremony, welcoming them into the profession of nursing. While the graduate is being pinned a recorded message from the student is shared with the audience. The Nursing graduates also take a vow to always help those who are sick or injured.  

“To me, the pinning ceremony is a symbolic welcoming into the nursing profession,” said Sara Luchini, class of 2023 Nursing graduate. “It signifies our acceptance and transition into becoming a nurse. The ceremony is a unique experience that celebrates the culmination of all the hard work and dedication of the students with our instructors, family and friends.”

Mid-State’s nursing pinning ceremony stems from a proud tradition reaching back to Florence Nightingale in the 1860s, the first nurse to receive a pin when she was awarded the Red Cross of St. George for her work in the Crimean War. Nightingale in turn honored outstanding nursing graduates with a medal of excellence, which in time inspired a tradition in the US to award all graduates with a pin, beginning in 1880 with Bellevue Hospital School of Nursing in New York City. By 1916, pinning had become a common practice in schools of nursing throughout the United Kingdom and the United States.

The actual pin used in the nursing pinning ceremony is unique to each school, incorporating a design that symbolizes the school’s beliefs about nursing. The Mid-State pin has both a lamp and a book, the lamp being a traditional symbol of excellence that dates back to Nightingale, also known as the Lady with the Lamp.

Following are Mid-State’s fall 2023 Nursing graduates recognized in the Dec. 12 nursing pinning ceremony. 

Zimrije Alimi – Amherst 
Carissa Avery – Amherst
Abigail Baehman – Eland 
Stacey Berdan – Stevens Point 
Amber Brockman – Wisconsin Rapids
Melinda Brueggen – Arpin
Hailey Budtke – Spencer 
Meghan Busa – Stevens Point
Morgan Elliott – Wisconsin Rapids
Briana Fox – Pittsville 
Samantha Fuehrer – Owen 
Baily Giebel – Strum 
Desirae Glodowski – Stevens Point
Erika Grimm – Marshfield 
Aiden Gust – Wisconsin Rapids
Taylor Heil – Marshfield
Josie Jakel – Curtiss 
Valerie Kedrowski – Stevens Point
Vanessa Kluck – Plover 
Nikole Knight – Wausau 
Lauren Koopman – Loyal 
Breiana Krise – Marshfield
Jessica Kuchta – Marshfield
Ashley LaBarge – Wisconsin Rapids
Kathryn Larson – Wisconsin Rapids
Breana Ligman – Custer 
Sara Luchini – Plover
Michaela Lussenden – Stevens Point
Teeghan Mahoney – Stevens Point
Allecia Merritt – New Lisbon
Mikayla Newlun – Elroy
Katherine Nolan – Stevens Point
Jalynn Piller – Wisconsin Rapids
Rebecca Puent – Marshfield
Kasandra Reyes – Stevens Point
Cassie Roggenbauer – Marshfield
Elizabeth Schindler – Wisconsin Rapids
Brianne Schoechert – Wisconsin Rapids
Halle Schueler – Tomah 
Teresa Story – Stevens Point
Sabrina Strasser – Weston 
Brooke Wayerski – Pittsville 

Learn more about Mid-State’s Nursing program at mstc.edu/programs.