In the midst of the pandemic, during his first year at UConn, Zaheer Turtem felt stuck with UConn. Now, four years later, he says that UConn is instead stuck with him. After graduating from the School of Nursing, he hopes to work as an emergency department nurse – but he’ll likely be back some day, as he plans to pursue graduate studies in nursing education at UConn in the future.

Why did you choose UConn?
UConn was primarily a financial choice. As my high school’s valedictorian, I was awarded the Presidential Scholarship. Later, during my sophomore year, my mother started working at John Dempsey Hospital, which further reaffirmed my choice in UConn. As the years went on, however, I’ve found more and more reasons to be very happy with UConn: their programs, the people, the pep, and, years later, I realize UConn was my top choice all along.

What’s your major or field of study, and what drew you to it?
This May, I will be graduating from the nursing program. As a Filipino immigrant, I have always held nursing in high regard. After all, it was nursing that allowed my family to become part of the Filipino diaspora when, 12 years ago, my mother secured employment in Connecticut as a nurse at St. Mary’s Hospital. When I first started at UConn, I wasn’t entirely sure that nursing was what I wanted to do. Still, as the pandemic raged at the forefront of my first year, I heard the call and felt the pull: Nursing was my chance to make meaningful differences in my life and the lives of those around me.

Did you have a favorite professor or class?
Name any faculty in the School of Nursing, because chances are I’ve had the chance to sit with them and pick their brain about what they do, and I enjoyed every single moment. If I had to narrow it down, though, it has to be Drs. Carrie Eaton and Tom Long. I worked closely with Dr. Long during his time as director of the Nursing Learning Community, for which I was a floor mentor. Dr. Eaton, on the other hand, has been my honors advisor for the past few years. I’ve had endless conversations with both of them about the School of Nursing, what the program looked like before the pandemic, how we have experienced lasting change because of it, and how to move forward and reinstate what we had lost.

What activities were you involved in as a student?
As a student, I was the president of the Nursing Class of 2024 and a member of the Student Nurses Association. As a sophomore, I was a floor mentor for the Nursing Learning Community, and I continued to work closely with First-Year Programs and Learning Communities throughout my junior year as a teaching assistant. In every capacity, I was able to participate in every fall open house and UConn Bound day at the School of Nursing.

Throughout the years, I’ve had the privilege of working with amazing people who, despite knowing that their experience has been made vastly different, committed themselves to changing the student experience for the better.

What’s one thing that surprised you about UConn?
Despite being a large university with a student population that can’t seem to stop growing, UConn gives small-town energy in that the University is tightly knit. The communities cultivated by each college seem to develop support systems that encourage their students, staff, and faculty to look out for one another. In my experience, building connections has never been as chill as it is on campus, especially when you know you can find faculty and staff in their offices.

What are your plans after graduation/receiving your degree?
Although I never really pictured myself working in an emergency department, my capstone practicum at Hartford Hospital’s Emergency Department has had me completely enthralled with emergency and trauma nursing. After taking a long time to enjoy the summer break, I look forward to starting my career in an emergency department this fall. In a few years, I hope to return to the School of Nursing to pursue postgraduate education in nursing education and pedagogy.

How has UConn prepared you for the next chapter in life?
UConn School of Nursing has offered a comprehensive curriculum and clinical experience. This, along with the support, encouragement, and sense of community provided by the School of Nursing, will enable me to excel in my nursing career. Additionally, my time with the program has instilled in me a reforming zeal, courtesy of Drs. Eaton and Long (and Lindsay Darcy), which I plan to carry with me in my practice as an advocate for positive change in the health care system, its policies, and its practices. As I move on from this chapter in my story, I leave part of myself at Storrs Hall and the Widmer Wing, where I spent countless hours honing my passion for nursing alongside people who would eventually become life-long friends.

Any advice for incoming students?
If the past four years have taught me anything, it is to take change in your stride. As someone who likes to plan very far ahead to anticipate what is liable to change, I have learned to be more open to change.

For example, I wasn’t entirely sure that nursing was what I wanted to do, yet here I am four years later, ready to devote my life and career to nursing. A few months ago, I would never have been able to picture myself working in an emergency department, and yet now I am enamored by the idea of it. Even when I decided to come to UConn, everyone was unsure how the pandemic would impact things, and I felt stuck with UConn. Now, UConn’s stuck with me, and with time, I’ve had some clarity to reflect on and share what I was told when I first started “You belong here.”

While it may not be apparent at this moment, the universe has conspired to take us all through here, through UConn, through the School of Nursing. Trust in it and see where it takes you.

What’s one thing everyone should do during their time at UConn?
There are many things that people say all Huskies should do during their time at UConn; they even have a poster that would help you keep track of it. For the past year, I’ve commuted to the Storrs campus from my home, about an hour away. Recently, I have found that the drive back and forth has given me a lot of peace. As the season changes, I get to drive up to campus as the sun rises and drive back as the sun sets, each time of day casts its unique light onto the new foliage.

I’m sure that there’s a better way to experience nature in the Storrs countryside as there are plenty of trails around campus, but I prefer driving.

What will always make you think of UConn?
Long drives across I-84, on which I spent an average of five hours per week just driving.