Students sticking together: Amy Clancy’s story
The thought of considering a career in nursing never entered Amy Clancy’s mind when she was younger. Instead, she aspired to become an artist. But as life happened, Amy’s mind changed.
“It’s really ironic how it came about for me to become a nurse,” Amy said. “I’m an older student, but when I was younger, I actually wanted to be an artist because I love drawing and painting. Then I realized it just seems like if you’re not dead, you’re not famous.”
She changed her mind after graduating from high school and took classes to become a medical assistant. “I did that for about 17 years, and during that time, I had a lot of nurses and doctors telling me I needed to go back to school and further my career as an RN. They told me I had a passion and was so good with the patients. And, here I am,” Amy said.
Amy is part of a cohort that stayed together from start to finish in the college’s Nursing Program. “We leaned on each other, and that definitely helped a lot. If somebody was having a hard time understanding a concept, we tried to break it down and re-teach each other.”
She developed lifelong friendships with the students in her nursing classes. “Three of us in this group are the only ones with kids. We’ve even gone trick-or-treating together. We’ve become like a family,” she said.
Amy, who will graduate in December 2025, plans to continue her education to earn additional degrees in nursing and looks forward to taking on a new role in the medical field.
“While I was working as a medical assistant, I first started with internal medicine, and we saw everybody from the ages of 18 and up. Then, I ended up getting into pediatrics, so I thought I’d like to work with children. Now, I’m not so sure. Each time I’ve done a rotation, I think I’d really like to do that. I’m all over the place,” she said with a laugh.
“But that’s the best part about nursing. You can switch it up because there are so many avenues you can take.”
Amy’s story is one in a multi-part series about a cohort of Moraine Valley Nursing Program students who navigated college’s challenges and triumphs together.