Connect

Meet Melany Santos. Poet. Richmond native. First-gen college student who can thread her own eyebrows and who traveled to Puebla, Mexico, as part of an art-themed study abroad. Loves cooking pulique, a savory Guatemalan dish, along with her mom and her professors Christine Connelly (“I love her; who doesn’t?”) Ashley Apple (“She’s amazing!”), and Emily Evans (“A labor and delivery nurse, and such a sweet soul!”). BSN student and future labor and delivery nurse.

Why nursing?

“When I was about five, my dad and I used to go to a flea market on Saturdays, and one Saturday, I found a toy first aid kit, that had a plastic band aid, a syringe, a plastic stethoscope, and some gauze … after that, I’d sit beside my dad when he’d come home from work, listen to the heartbeats in his belly, and tell him he was going to die. He’d say, ‘Please, I’m trying to watch the news!’ That’s how it all started.”

Why UVA?

“It was never my plan to attend a four-year college because my siblings attended community college and online school. During my senior year, though, my success adviser pushed me to complete the Common App, get a fee waiver, and look at traditional colleges. I literally put on a filter search to narrow my options: ‘nursing schools in Virginia.’ There are seven, and I applied to all of them, including UVA, which I didn’t know much about.”

“I liked UVA because it was direct entry into nursing, and there was financial aid. I didn’t even know how good UVA was until I applied, and was talking to my brother’s girlfriend about it, and her eyes widened. She said, ‘If you get into UVA, do you know what that means?’ The more I researched, the more I thought it would be a miracle if I got in. But then I did get in. And now I feel like everything worked out the way it was supposed to. I got through the whole college admissions process mostly because one person in high school saw potential in me.”

Her UVA experience:

“When I first arrived, I was trying to find myself in a place where I felt very new … by second year, though, I’ve found my people; I’ve found opportunities. This year is a lot more challenging than last year, but it also has made me realize how much more capable I’ve become. Every day that passes I feel like I’m a little more competent and ready to be in a hospital, little by little.”

“All the professors here genuinely care; they make you want to excel in this career. And they always uplift you. The exams are tough, so there are days when you need somebody to tell you, ‘You’re gonna do great,’ and it makes you want to do great.’"

UVA School of Nursing in one word?

“Heartwarming. The professors drill you with all this information, but they also give you the resources and confidence to succeed. And people here are always smiling; they recognize you and see you. Nursing school has a stigma of being really hard, so hard that sometimes it’s the kind of environment where others don’t’ want to see you succeed, which may be true for other programs, but not for this one. I never have days when I don’t want to be here. It’s hard, but I like it in its own rigorous way.”