Vanessa Nash graduated from Hampden Academy last year with a clear plan. She only applied to USM and its competitive nursing program.
“I wanted to go to a school far away from home but still in the state of Maine and they have a really good nursing program,” said Nash. The freshman was accepted into the USM nursing program and enrolled this past fall.
“I was pretty confident about getting into the nursing program,” she said.
Nash said she didn’t know how competitive USM’s nursing program was at first. “They only accepted 24 freshman in the nursing program this year,” said Nash. In one of her nursing classes of around 40, she said only about 10 have actually been accepted in the program.
“The nursing program is pretty intense so the course load is overwhelming sometimes. It’s harder [than high school] but it’s what I expected,” she said.
Nash already knows what she wants to do after graduating college. She wants to become a nurse anesthetists – a registered nurse who can provide anesthesia. To do this she must first have a baccalaureate of science in nursing and then work two years in the field of nursing. She’ll then go back to school for two years to acquire a master of science degree in nurse anesthesia and take the certification exam. Nash plans on going to UNE for this because USM doesn’t offer the degree.
“I think it’s a cool job. You pretty much get to be a doctor and give anesthetics to people. But it’s not as big of a responsibility as a doctor and you still get all of the experience and the paycheck,” said Nash.
Certified registered nurse anesthetists are some of the highest paid nursing specialists. They made an average annual salary of $168,500 in 2008, according to the American Association of Nurse Anesthetists. CRNA’s provide about 65 percent of the 26 million anesthetics given to patients in the United States each year.
She didn’t always want to be a nurse. “I always wanted to be a lawyer when I was younger. My aunt is a nurse and she’s one of my biggest role models. After hearing all the good things she said about nursing, I changed my mind and decided it’s the thing for me,” she said.
Nash lives on campus in Upton Hastings Hall and plans on staying in the dorms for another year at least. She said she is thinking about possibly living in Philippi Hall – a newer dorm – next year with her boyfriend. “I need to live on campus until I can be financially stable enough to live on my own,” said Nash.
She doesn’t see the common student complaint of the split campus as a problem. “I like the two campuses because one is in the city and the other is [more rural],” she said. The Gorham and Portland campuses remind her of home because she lived in the rural town of Newburgh and traveled to the more urban Hampden for high school.
“If I didn’t have a single I don’t think I’d like it as much,” she said. One issue she has living on campus concerns dining. “I don’t feel like there’s a lot of food options if you live on campus,” said Nash.
Nash said she doesn’t know much about the current USM re-organization but plans to educate herself more on the process.