• Hometown: East Longmeadow, Massachusetts

Watching her aunt drop her busy schedule and travel from New York to Florida to care for a relative, Gabrielle saw that nursing is more than a task-oriented career. “It’s a career in which you develop a special bond with your patients while providing them with comfort and care. My dream job would be to work at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, make my patients comfortable in a hospital, give them someone they can depend on and share a relationship with,” she says.

The whole idea of relationships have been central to experience at URI. She chose URI because our nursing professors seemed to really care about helping students reach their goals. “I sensed that there were close interpersonal relationships amongst the students and professors.” And indeed there were. “The nursing faculty is a group of intelligent, caring and patient individuals. They are always willing to help me and answer any questions I have. I can tell they want us to succeed as nursing students.”

She also found a close-knit student community too. “I originally thought I wasn’t going to be able to get to know people living on a large campus, but living-learning communities allow nursing students to form relationships outside of class and help one another with studies, and as a freshman, I’m already forming close relationships that I’m sure will last throughout my time here.”