A frightening experience helped Tara Ronning find her true calling in nursing.
Ronning has a bachelor’s degree in social work from Michigan State University, but she left the workforce when she and her husband decided to start a family. She gave birth prematurely to triplets, who were rushed to the neonatal intensive care unit. One of the babies passed away at the age of 4 months.
“During this journey, I saw the hearts and tears of nurses and caregivers -- who I now call friends -- poured into their patients and families,” she said. “It was not ‘just a job’ to them, but rather a passion and a gift they could give the families of these young babies. It was their calling in life to give hope and love.”
Ronning had just registered for fall classes at GRCC when her husband was struck by a truck while sitting on a park bench. Surrounded by the chaos of the hospital emergency department, she noticed that she felt unexpectedly at ease.
“I can look back now and think that very moment was when I knew without a doubt that nursing was my calling,” she said.
A few years later, with her husband recovered from the accident, Ronning started on her new career pathway by taking GRCC classes.
“What an opportunity and blessing that I got to study here, close to home and work,” she said. “I am able to manage classes and four busy kids with all the responsibilities of being a wife and mother.”
She plans to transfer to Ferris State University and hopes to have her bachelor’s degree in nursing in spring 2022.
The coronavirus pandemic has Ronning especially busy in her job as an emergency room technician while giving her a preview of how she hopes to contribute in a new role as nurse.
“I absolutely love it!” she said. “Having been both patient and now provider, I have seen that this is truly what I am to do with my gifts and talent from God.”
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