Newman student Jared Smarsh recently joined more than one member of his family as a Newman University nursing program alumni this fall.
Smarsh, who began his college education at Fort Hays State University, transferred to Newman in fall 2016. The following semester was his first in Newman’s nursing program.
In an interview, he said that Newman’s impressive reputation for academic excellence was one of the primary reasons that he joined the nursing program.
His mother, a three-time graduate of Newman, obtained her Associate of Science in nursing in 1989, her Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) in 1991 and her master’s in nurse anesthesia in 2013.
Jared’s older sister, Erika, graduated with her BSN in 2014 and began working on her master’s in nurse anesthesia in 2018.
Kelsey, his younger sister, is planning on graduating with her BSN in 2019.
Smarsh’s aunt also graduated from Newman in 1995 with a BSN.
Because of the many family members in his field of study, Smarsh said he was already known to his professor when he began his classes at Newman. He was immediately impressed with the way people regarded him as he began his studies.
Smarsh said the next step for him is to take the National Council Licensure Examination before beginning work at the Trauma and Surgical Intensive Care Unit at Via Christi St. Francis Hospital in Wichita, Kansas.
Like his mother and sister, Smarsh would like to continue his education in the nursing field, making himself another likely student in Newman’s advanced nursing degree programs.
His greatest takeaway from his time in the nursing program is the degree of excellence that was instilled in him during his time at Newman.
