Major: Nursing (BS)
As a nursing major, Mandy Larsen ’19 sometimes thought her professors’ rules about decorum were “a bit much” — things like having your scrubs neatly pressed, “standing in a certain way” and being “very formal about how you’re supposed to speak or address people.”
Once she graduated and was working as a nurse, however, she got it.
“Even though I had to learn a lot, leaving school and going to the hospital — it taught me how to act and to act properly and that helped me be taken seriously once I got to the job,” Larsen, a cardiac care nurse in the Richmond area, said.
Her supervisors definitely took note.
“I think they always thought I was smarter than I actually was,” she said, laughing. “They were the people who actually helped me advance in the unit. They would help me get training and into classes and stuff because they felt like I could do it.”
As a student at Lynchburg, Larsen also had the opportunity to research termites with Dr. Jürgen Ziesmann, who teaches anatomy and physiology. She describes the experience as “one of the weirdest things I can put on my resume” and “far out of the realm of nursing,” but admitted it’s come in handy.
Over the summer, Larsen works at a camp for children and adults with disabilities. She said researching termites gave her a “magic trick” that’s a hit with campers: If you draw a line with a Sharpie marker, which contains formic acid, termites and ants will follow it.
“The termites love it and they’ll follow the line,” she said. “It’s a hoot.”
