Pinning Ceremony Celebrates Nursing Grads
School of Nursing tradition symbolizes the growth of student nurses into confident professionals
Posted in: Homepage News, Nursing, University
![A long line of students wearing formal black clothing walk into the ceremony.](/responsive-media/cache/newscenter/wp-content/uploads/sites/15/2023/05/050523_0695_Nursing_Pinning_Ceremony-LAROSA.jpg.0.1x.generic.jpg)
Gianna DeRienzo, a graduating senior at Montclair State University, remembers opening her acceptance letter to the School of Nursing “and jumping up and down like a kid.” Little did she know what the next four years would entail, including, she recalls, grueling 12-hour clinical days – “an experience that not many other majors can relate to.”
As part of the School of Nursing’s observation of National Nurses Week and National Nurses Month, the University held a traditional pinning ceremony, a rite of passage held on May 5 that marks the transition from student nurse to professional nurse. The graduates celebrated with family, friends and faculty, a formal event that paid tribute to their journey.
“You have seen us grow, from being scared to wake a patient up for morning vitals, to administering meds with confidence,” DeRienzo, who served as student speaker, told the gathering.
![Four nursing students pose together wearing formal black clothing with red roses](/responsive-media/cache/newscenter/wp-content/uploads/sites/15/2023/05/050523_0674_Nursing_Pinning_Ceremony-LAROSA.jpg.0.1x.generic.jpg)
The American Nurses Association chose for 2023 the theme “You Make a Difference.” Faculty speaker Elsie Alabi-Gonzalez, herself a graduate of Montclair’s nursing programs, tweaked the phrase, telling the nursing graduates, “You make the difference.”
“We encounter people at all stages of life. At any given time, there is a nurse watching as one individual takes their first breath, while another nurse watches someone take their last breath. In both instances and everything in between, our impact is felt,” Gonzalez said.
Last year, the School of Nursing held its pinning ceremony live on NBC’s The Today Show as part of the program’s Nurses Week. While this year’s ceremony wasn’t seen by millions, it was memorable for the family and friends of the 53 graduates of the Master of Science in Nursing, RN to BSN and Bachelor of Science in Nursing programs.
“Some of you have had your blood pressure taken more times than you would like to admit, or remember, and others have had to sit through physical assessments and patient education. You complain of a headache and now you have to play 20 questions with your student nurse,” Gonzalez joked.
Photo Gallery
![A couple embrace on stage.](/responsive-media/cache/newscenter/wp-content/uploads/sites/15/2023/05/050523_0711_Nursing_Pinning_Ceremony-LAROSA-Enhanced-NR.jpg.0.1x.generic.jpg)
![Two sisters show emotion during ceremony.](/responsive-media/cache/newscenter/wp-content/uploads/sites/15/2023/05/050523_0785_Nursing_Pinning_Ceremony-LAROSA-Enhanced-NR.jpg.0.1x.generic.jpg)
![A small child and a young woman hug a male nursing student on the stage.](/responsive-media/cache/newscenter/wp-content/uploads/sites/15/2023/05/050523_0751_Nursing_Pinning_Ceremony-LAROSA-Enhanced-NR.jpg.0.1x.generic.jpg)
![Elsie Alabi-Gonzalez speaking at a podium](/responsive-media/cache/newscenter/wp-content/uploads/sites/15/2023/05/050523_0851_Nursing_Pinning_Ceremony-LAROSA.jpg.0.1x.generic.jpg)
![A faculty member presents an award to a female student.](/responsive-media/cache/newscenter/wp-content/uploads/sites/15/2023/05/050523_0857_Nursing_Pinning_Ceremony-LAROSA-Enhanced-NR.jpg.0.1x.generic.jpg)
![Graduates hold candles and read from a program.](/responsive-media/cache/newscenter/wp-content/uploads/sites/15/2023/05/050523_0860_Nursing_Pinning_Ceremony-LAROSA-Enhanced-NR.jpg.0.1x.generic.jpg)
![A student holding flowers poses for a photo.](/responsive-media/cache/newscenter/wp-content/uploads/sites/15/2023/05/050523_0869_Nursing_Pinning_Ceremony-LAROSA-Enhanced-NR.jpg.0.1x.generic.jpg)
![A group of nursing faculty members smiling](/responsive-media/cache/newscenter/wp-content/uploads/sites/15/2023/05/050523_0690_Nursing_Pinning_Ceremony-LAROSA-Enhanced-NR.jpg.0.1x.generic.jpg)
![A happy face balloon with a nurse’s cap floats about a crowd of people.](/responsive-media/cache/newscenter/wp-content/uploads/sites/15/2023/05/050523_0871_Nursing_Pinning_Ceremony-LAROSA.jpg.0.1x.generic.jpg)
Story by Marilyn Joyce Lehren. Photos by John J. LaRosa
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