Caption: Ridgecrest Campus nursing cohort (bottom l to r) Janice Carolyn Ribultan, Jessie Lynne Carson, Minerva Ceja, and Kim Webb.  (Second row l to r) Amber Carroll, Katherine Craig, Lori Healey, Angela Vasquez, and Mandy Patin. (Top l to r) Saira Palacios, Jesus Salas, Christine Hannah, Cynthia Cavenaugh, and Shila Arian.

As the fall semester wound down, Cerro Coso held two separate Vocational Nursing Capping and Pinning Ceremonies, symbolically welcoming 36 student vocational nurses into a profession of service to others (pending passage of their state boards.)

The path to becoming a nurse is long, steep, and sometimes rocky. The whole experience of being a nursing major is often an emotional roller-coaster. They cry together, laugh together, and share their stories with each other. But at the end of the day, they know the nursing profession is exactly what they were meant to do.

The Nursing Pinning and Capping Ceremonies signify the end of a rigorous and physically demanding program of study.

Students, family, friends, faculty, and staff enjoyed the solemn, joyful, and at times humorous ceremonies as instructors and graduates shared their thoughts and memories of the 12 month journey now completed. These student will have the opportunity to make an enormous, positive difference in the lives of people under their care.

“We are very proud of each of these students and the faculty committed to their success,” said President Jill Board.

It was a perfect way to complete a semester of hard work and dedication.