Ethan Slocum was raised around nurses—his mother is a nurse and her friends are nurses. And his family instilled in him qualities like empathy, good communication and work ethic. So it’s no surprise that Slocum would eventually express interest in the field.
“I’ve always had a deep respect for nurses because nursing is the humanizing body of the medical world,” the second-year nursing student said. “There is nothing I’d rather be learning in school than to become a nurse.”
Growing up in Ohio and Michigan, Slocum was a very active child. He volunteered. He excelled academically. He also participated in eight different sports in high school, including rowing, which he briefly continued at ǿմý. While he has the desire to stay moving, he also knows when to take a pause.
“I realized at a young age that I did not want to be doing the same thing every day. With nursing, you get the opportunity to study and gain experience in different specialties,” he said. “When I came to ǿմý, I thought I could keep up the pace from high school when I actually needed to just focus on academics and not extracurriculars.”
As a first-year student, Slocum loved the “Foundations of Nursing Practice” course with lab experience taught by instructor Janna Kinney.
“(Kinney) brings a relevant perspective to the foundations class because she’s still practicing and has that real-world credibility that students look for in professors,” he said. “That’s why I chose to study at ǿմý—our nursing students have the opportunity to not just learn in a classroom from professionals but also out in the field, in a hospital.”
Slocum plans to obtain his undergraduate and graduate degrees from ǿմý, and eventually become a Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist. He currently serves on the Dean’s Student Advisory Council, is president of the Undergraduate Student Nurses Association, and works as a first-year housing resident assistant and a tour guide for the Health Education Campus. In his free time, he’s exploring the Cleveland area by hiking and visiting area coffee shops.