- Name: Maddie Briere
- Year: Senior
- Hometown: Zionsville, IN
- Major(s): Psychology and Spanish
HerCampus: So Maddie, I hear you have really exciting news about what you will be doing after graduating DePauw this spring. Tell me about that.
Maddie Briere: Yes, starting in the fall I will be moving to Nashville and attending the Vanderbilt School of Nursing on the track to become a pediatric primary care nurse practitioner.
HC: That’s awesome, good for you! When did you decide that you were interested in nursing?
MB: I decided a little late in the game. I came back from being abroad my junior year and had a slight freak out not knowing what I was going to do. So, after talking to a couple of people at DePauw and a couple of my parents’ friends I was able to narrow down my search process and then just started researching different nursing programs. There are a lot of different kinds of nursing programs that are accelerated for people who have an undergraduate degree in something other than nursing. So, it just kind of worked out well.
HC: I understand you are this year’s president of Civic Fellows on campus. Have you been participating in anything in the Greencastle community to help you prepare for a future in nursing or fostering that interest?
MB: Yes. Actually this year I started volunteering at a local clinic called Johnson Nichols Health Clinic. They primarily treat women and children with little or no insurance. That’s the biggest service they provide for the community.
HC: What types of things do you do while you’re there volunteering?
MB: One of my biggest jobs is managing patient records. They are moving to a new electronic record system, so I enter a lot of patient records in the new system and teach other women there how to use it. I also get to take heights and weights sometimes- and hold little babies!
HC: Awww! Do you feel like the work you’re doing at the clinic has been good preparation for starting school next year?
MB: Definitely. Also, Ruth, who runs the clinic, has been a really good mentor in describing what kinds of programs are available, what the health care system outlook is and just kind of the job market. She has been a really good resource through the whole process.