Graduation Celebrations Archive

Hello and congratulations to all of you on behalf of the Nurses Alumni Organization, or “NAO,” of which you are all members as graduates of UW–Madison School of Nursing. First of all, we would like you all to take your dominant hand to your forehead; now swipe it across your forehead… whew! and if you are really feeling good about yourself, reach over and pat yourself on the back. We are certain many of you are feeling relieved and gratified to have completed this very important journey. It is a pleasure for us to welcome you as you head into the next phase of your lives as health care professionals, scholars, practitioners and hopefully, some of you as future teachers!

The NAO is open to all Badger graduates and here is the good news—membership is free! Our goal is to support activities that benefit nursing students at all levels in their educational preparation. Our primary function is to connect alums with each other through social and career enhancing functions and all our funds raised are given away each year in the form of scholarships. We hope that once the dust settles and you are immersed in whatever new role you are headed for, that you will consider becoming involved in NAO activities, either by attending one of our functions, mentoring new-to-practice graduates and when possible, providing financial support to our school.  The SoN website does have a section devoted to NAO activities and we encourage you to check us out!

We believe it is truly a great time to be a nurse. There are positions and settings to work in and populations to work with that were never imagined even 10 years ago. Every day, society is privileged to observe nurses who are doing amazing and meaningful work—some who are 22 years old and some who are 95 years old. What we hope is that you will look back on the years you spent here… well, maybe not now, and understand the privilege of being a UW-Madison graduate. As Badger nurses ourselves, we are certain that you are prepared to address complex health problems in innovative ways, strive to improve health outcomes and will continue to challenge yourselves to be lifelong learners, clinicians, and researchers. Again, congratulations. On behalf of the Nurses Alumni Organization, we welcome you to our organization. Please keep in touch.