For their ASC Service Award capstone project, Alaina Waters and Alysha Keck focused on something deeply important to both of them: worship.
“Our relationship with Christ is the center of everything we do, and worship creates the opportunity to give praise and honor back to Christ and create the space for him to speak, refine and move on our behalf,” said Waters.
Another part of their project, named Project Sing-For-Joy, was a desire to share worship with those who might not otherwise have the opportunity, so the two nursing students decided to provide a time of worship for seniors living in long-term care facilities.
Waters and Keck visited both Via Christi Village Ridge and the Catholic Care Center, providing about an hour of worship at each session. They sang eight to 10 worship songs — either modern or hymnal in style — during six total sessions between the two facilities throughout the semester.
They both sang together, and Waters alternated between playing guitar and keyboard. They also had the opportunity to meet the residents and share fellowship with them.
With each visit, Keck provided homemade baked goods for the facilities’ staff, such as cupcakes, cookies and puppy chow, totaling more than 500 treats.
“The entire project was so rewarding,” Waters said. “Not only did I get to complete the project with one of my closest friends, but we got to share in this special moment and grow in our relationship with Christ together.”
A bond to remember
Prior to the experience, Waters and Keck had never sung together, so experiencing the capstone together — and having residents continually ask if they were related — was especially meaningful.
“It was also so rewarding to see the blessing and impact that something as simple as singing could bring to people,” Waters said. “I would give anything to see those smiles on the residents’ faces again when we began to sing. Plus, to hear multiple generations of voices lifting up praise to Christ is something I will carry with me always.”
Waters is also completing her nursing capstone project on introducing music therapy as a first-line alternative therapy to decrease pain and anxiety in pediatric patients.
“Maybe one day I’ll be completing my nursing shifts and taking a part out of my day to stop and provide a time of worship and music for the patients I interact with,” she said.
To hear multiple generations of voices lifting up praise to Christ is something I will carry with me always.
– Alaina Waters on her capstone project
Nurturing hearts in health care
For Keck, it was especially meaningful to see the joy and surprise on the staff’s faces when she handed over the treats.
“I feel like health care staff often feel overlooked or are simply overwhelmed,” she said. “As a future nurse, I thought about how I would feel if someone randomly brought me snacks, and that motivated me to keep baking.”
She also felt the statement that giving affects the giver more than the receiver is true.
“After every session, my relationship with God was closer than ever, and I was able to worship God right alongside everyone else,” Keck said.
Through the project, Keck felt she grew in her empathy for others and was reminded of her motivation for becoming a nurse: to serve others during times of vulnerability with the gifts given to her by God.
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