Joliet Junior College recognizes nursing students

Joliet Junior College recognized two of its nursing students with its program’s 2021 Citizenship Award.

Nursing faculty selected Amanda Fazekas and Courtney Hauck for this year’s award, which is given to students who demonstrate outstanding qualities in attitude, academics, character, community service and school spirit, according to a news release.

The two students said being employed in health care during the COVID-19 pandemic has only further motivated them to complete their nursing education.

“As a phlebotomist working in the hospital, I’ve witnessed first-hand the heroic work of the nurses,” Fazekas, a native of Sao Paulo, Brazil, said in the release. “I also witnessed the strain they were under due to staffing shortages. There were so many times I wished, so hard, that my studies were complete so I could jump in to help. I guess it’s fair to say I can’t wait to get started.”

The two students also have busy schedules. On top of their classes and full-time jobs, they are also both mothers of two children.

“I’ve never felt better about becoming a nurse,” Hauck, a Morris resident, said in the release. “Working in a hospital, I see every day the struggles that staff are working with being understaffed and I cannot wait to join the nurses I’ve been working with and help fight this pandemic.”

Despite the hard work, Fazekas said working in health care is “one of the purest ways we can serve, and show humanity, to each other.”

“There’s an enormous satisfaction I’m already starting to feel as I’ve begun my clinical rotations in a local hospital, working with real patients,” she said. “I know I made the right choice to become a nurse.”

For aspiring nurses, Hauck’s message is to never give up.

“Nursing school isn’t easy by any means, but it is worth it,” she said. “I have met people in my classes that I know are going to be lifelong friends. Don’t let this pandemic deter you from going after your dreams. We need nurses now more than ever!”

For more on JJC’s nursing program, visit jjc.edu/nursing.