Nursing has long been considered the toughest program to get into – and survive – at Southwestern Community College.
Anywhere from 200 to 400 applicants are turned away from the two-year program each year, and graduates readily acknowledge having their limits tested along the way.
Imagine, then, adding a third year to the regimen.
That’s exactly what Danielle Shomper did as the first student in SCC’s 51-year history to complete a curriculum designed to last three years: RIBN (Regionally Increasing Baccalaureate Nurses). The first member of her family to attend college, Shomper held a 3.69 Grade Point Average.
She served as student speaker for SCC’s health sciences graduation ceremony on Wednesday, May 11, 2016, at SCC’s Jackson Campus. Representing other divisions at their respective graduation ceremonies were Jenna Golden, a college transfer student who will speak at the arts & sciences/early college commencement exercises; and Gwynneth Bird, a double-major (accounting and college transfer) from Cherokee who addressed her fellow career technologies graduates. The arts & sciences and career technologies programs were held on May 10, 2016.
“It’s exciting to know I’m the first,” said Shomper, a Cullowhee resident who completed her clinical rotations at Harris Regional Hospital in Sylva. “It’s also a little nerve-wracking. Being the first one, there weren’t any older students for me to lean on.
“It was a learning curve for both myself and (SCC’s WNC RIBN nursing advisor) Linda Deeb,” Shomper added. “We worked through this together. I’m in her office a lot. She has been great. She’s gone above and beyond for me. We have a good relationship. She guided me. I wouldn’t have been able to get through it without her.”
Shomper has made sure the pathway she’s traveled will be easier for those who follow in her footsteps.
“Danielle is a pioneer,” Deeb said. “Everyone looks up to her. She’s been very kind to the students who’ve entered the program after her. She always makes time to help and answer their questions.”
RIBN is coordinated statewide by the Foundation for Nursing Excellence with financial support from The Duke Endowment, the Jonas Center for Nursing Excellence, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the N.C. Area Health Education Centers Program.
Through RIBN, Shomper has taken the majority of her coursework at SCC while completing one class per semester online at WCU.
"I am proud to have Danielle Shomper represent the division as our graduation speaker and first RIBN graduate,” said Dr. Mitch Fischer, dean of health sciences at SCC. “Ms. Shomper has done outstanding work while at SCC, managing to maintain a GPA of 3.69. She began her studies in the CNA program and has progressed and excelled in her nursing studies. I am confident she will make an outstanding nurse."
For more information about SCC and its programs, visit www.southwesterncc.edu, call 828.339.4000 or stop by your nearest SCC location.
