Christine Marie Annakie-Lewis

When I arrived in 1986, I determined that I would go to FIU. It was one of the only universities at that time that provided a bachelor's degree in nursing. It was rare at the time to get a bachelor's degree in nursing. Most nurses were just doing the associate's degree in science, and that was where they stopped. A lot of places were asking for the bachelor's degree in nursing because that was a path towards elevating into administrative duty. It gave us a holistic view of education. When we went for our clinicals, some of the nurses were not very happy with training us. The bachelor's in nursing meant that we would get more pay. I wanted to be a nurse when I was three years old. I wanted to help people. I was very curious about helping someone toward a path of wellness and a better quality of life. Once I wrote my letter requesting the application, the person who took care of admissions called me and told me what I needed. She even gave me directions about how to get there. FIU took care of us from the beginning until the end. It was very important. We felt that somebody really cared and that we weren't just a statistic. We were important, and we were going to change people's lives. They ensured that we had our proper education and that we were properly trained in everything that we were going to do. In all of my clinicals, the professors made sure that we knew how to do the basic necessities for our patients. We learned how to give them an injection and how to care for them.