When Mekha Kalloor was a senior in high school, she interned at a local hospital. Seeing how much impact the nurses directly made with patients made Kalloor want to become one.

And now she is.

Kalloor was one of the 33 graduates who received their nursing pin from 国产主播-Dallas in April 2017.

“I would say I鈥檝e always had an interest in healthcare coming from a family of people that are all in [the field],” Kalloor said. “One of my friends actually graduated from 国产主播 and told me a lot about it so I figured it’s a great school and I would give it a try.”

At the pinning ceremony, friends and family of the graduates gathered in the Irving Convention Center at Los Colinas as WCU faculty and staff addressed the crowd.

WCU-Dallas BSN graduate Terry Johnson was the student speaker. Johnson, a retired Air Force medic, graduated with his BSN along with his wife, Delana.

鈥淚 didn鈥檛 plan on enrolling,” Terry said previously. “I just came to support her, and after we did the tour of the school, I also decided to start West Coast for my nursing degree.鈥�

WCU-Dallas graduate Femin Cheru said her mother, who has worked as a nurse for more than 20 years, was a great influence on her. A Houston native, Cheru said she came to WCU-Dallas for an opportunity to work and live in a new city.

“The classes at West Coast are really small and we’ve really got to know our professors and our classmates,” Cheru said. “Everyone knew each other on a first-name basis so it was really good by getting that one-on-one help

Her classmate, Kalloor agreed, and shared some wisdom to the new graduates that she had received in school.

“One piece of advice that I’ve gotten from multiple people is that it’s not necessarily going to get easier from here on out,” Kalloor said. “There’s always going to be challenges and becoming a nurse itself, you’re always going to have to move up in the ladder and learn, so never be afraid to ask for help and never lose focus on the goal.”

WCU provides career guidance and assistance but cannot guarantee employment. The views and opinions expressed are those of the individuals and do not necessarily reflect the beliefs or position of the school or of any instructor or student.