Samantha Gevry head shotNursing is the family calling for Samantha Gevry. For more than 30 years her mother Susan has worked as a nurse, the past 18 at UMass Memorial. Like all health care workers on the pandemic frontlines, and their families, the past year it has been a challenging time for the Gevrys.

“Especially at the beginning of the pandemic when we didn’t know as much about COVID-19, getting called in for a shift was kind of scary (for her),” Gevry said. “She’d be in the operating room and wouldn’t know if a patient had COVID-19.”

Gevry will start at Regis College in the fall and thought one way she could relieve some stress for her mother after such a difficult year was to apply for the Regis College/Massachusetts Nurses Association scholarship, a four-year, full tuition undergraduate scholarship for dependents of MNA members working on the pandemic frontlines.

“My dad and I talked about applying for it, never thinking I would actually get picked,” said Gevry, a senior at Shepherd Hill Regional in Dudley, Massachusetts. “I still can’t believe I was selected.”

Among the myriad reasons she chose to attend Regis, Gevry said she knows she will get a strong foundation and skill set for a career in nursing. And when she arrives at Regis, Gevry will be bringing a number of credits having taken classes at Quinsigamond Community College during the past year, while finishing up her senior year of high school.

“We are so proud to welcome Samantha to the Regis College community,” said Regis College President Antoinette Hays, PhD, RN. “Like so many frontline health care workers and their families, Samantha and her mother have faced numerous challenges over the past year, and we thank them for their sacrifices. Samantha’s drive and determination to improve the health care system embodies the spirit of this scholarship.”

Gevry, who will also join the Regis women’s tennis team, said she either wants to pursue a career as a nurse practitioner or nurse anesthetist and that the pandemic did not deter her from her dream.

“If anything it made me want to be a nurse even more,” she said. “Nurses were so critical to the response and I want to be able to help people every day no matter what is going on.”