West Coast University-Dallas began 2016 the best way possible — by celebrating the pinning of 29 nursing graduates.

Dallas – January 2016

Charnita Ballard Denise Bonilla Keith Bridges Karina Ceh Caroline Day Ruby De La Rosa Sibyl Franco Kelly Frederickson Lindsey Gober Erica Griess Debbie Howard Maureen Huaringa Cynthia L Huasco Zulfiya Hunt Lylia King

Rosa Le Megan McCarthy Esther Muriuki Folashade Oniyide Teresa Plumlee Courtney Quick Thomas Reagan Wendy Rodusky Alexandra Talib Maria Urbina Snoby Varghese Savinder Virk Jennifer Vuong Namrata Yadav

The WCU-Dallas Nursing program cohort gathered with friends and family at the Irving Convention Center on Jan. 29 to celebrate the academic accomplishments of the group. Several WCU almuni were also in attendace to share the event with the newly minted nurses.

WCU alum JD Buchert, who graduated with his BSN in November 2015, helped mentor a few students in the cohort but returned for one student in particular: Zulia Hunt.

Hunt, who was born in Kazakhstan and is a native Russian speaker, asked Buchert to pin her. Hunt said Buchert, who had returned to school after raising his son, always found time to help her — and not just with school work.

“He knows so much about life,” Hunt said. “When they asked us who we wanted to put our pins on, I thought he would be the perfect person for me.”

Pinning ceremonies can be emotional, but Buchert said the January event brought up different feelings than his own pinning a few months prior.

“I was more proud the second time around,” he said, “because I felt more like a parent when was I seeing all our nurses that were getting ready to come into the field.”

Check out the photo gallery on Facebook!

ICYMI, WCU-Dallas pinning photos!

Posted by West Coast University on Wednesday, March 2, 2016

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