A Clear Destination 

There are some people who just know who they are. They have a kind of charisma and focus when they tell their stories, where each step connects with the one in front and you can see the destination on the horizon clearly. That kind of focus and self-awareness is synonymous with Abigail Sund.

Abigail has known she wanted to be a nurse since she was 14. And she’s taken all the steps to achieve this goal.

First, she started Running Start at Spokane Community College, going to a public school for the frst time in her life, having been homeschooled until then.

“The more I was at SCC, the more I loved it,” Abigail said.

That’s where she learned about SCC’s nursing program. She had an acquaintance in the program who highly recommended it, and her academic counselor helped her learn more details. In the end, it was a seamless transition.

Fall of 2021 was Abigail’s first quarter in the nursing program, and it was definitely an adjustment. “There were a lot of frsts,” she said, including her first clinical and lab simulation.

The program is very specialized; also it is highly focused and set up so each piece fits into each other.

“Everything is interconnected. The classes lead into each other, so you’re really studying the program as a whole,” Abigail explained. Each quarter covers a general topic, and each class within that quarter studies a specific aspect of that topic.

She’s enjoying the work, and when things get hard, she looks to her cohort and her future career to stay motivated.

“I love how tight-knit the program is,” Abigail said. She even has a peer mentor who gives her advice.

She’s also looking forward to being the kind of nurse that inspired her to pursue this career in the first place.

“I love the stories of nurses who stick with people, who are very caring with patients. Wanting to be that kind of nurse is the biggest motivator to me.”

Abigail hopes to be a competent and confdent nurse working in the neonatal intensive care unit or in labor and delivery. She wants something fast-paced, where she can work with her hands. That’s how she knew nursing was the right choice for her.

That self-awareness is also how she ended up working as a nursing assistant while in school. But as much as she loved her job, the workload was getting hard on top of her new studies. The scholarship she received from Foundation donors gave her the opportunity to stop working and focus on nursing school as much as possible.

“A scholarship helps students to pursue their education at a time when college is very, very expensive. Everyone who is at CCS really wants to be there, and I really appreciate how there are scholarships that support that.”

After 18 short months of focused study (without a summer break), Abigail will graduate from the nursing program and be at work taking care of patients in our local community, fulflling her dream. And for someone with such clear focus and drive, she’s sure to excel at it.