I'm not one for pomp and circumstance, but I must go along to apease the family. They want to watch me walk.
I haven't mentioned to them the pinning ceremony, as I had no intention of making everyone spend more time in the audience watching me. Many nurses and classmates are appaled that I'd not go to pinning, or that I'd choose commencment over pinning. Then, I got to thinking, I don't really know what pinning is about or what it involves.
What is so great about the pinning ceremony? What happens?
About all I've heard is that there are candels, someone of your choice pins a pin on you, and you wear your graduation robes.
You may not have regrets cuz you dont know what you missed. I would have gone for my own sake to be there with my instructors and fellow students, but that's just me.
Just thinking about the pinning brings tears to my eyes. I have a long way to go (I start in the fall) and pray that I make it to pinning and graduation.
Just as there's nothing wrong with the people who get misty-eyed over pinning and who love the candle/wedding-march stuff, there's also nothing wrong with those of us who see it as nothing significant.
I went to mine and can truly state that, in retrospect, I'd just as soon have given it a pass. Just me.
Now, hanging at a BBQ in the park, indulging in suds and patting everybody on the back and wishing 'em well - that's right up my alley. The "nursing as a mission" and being "pinned" into the "sisterhood".... not so much.
I'm not very touchy feely. Do you say the Nightingale pledge?
Yes, you do. Although, I was involved in planning the ceremony and we had to choose between two different versions of the pledge that someone found on the internet.
I think the pinning is the ceremony of the ultimate accomplishment which is finishing nursing school. It is just another way of showing you made it through. This is meaningful to some people, it just reminds you that all the hard work and dedication you put into becoming a nurse has come to light.
I'm still a ways off from my pinning and graduation, but I'd probably choose pinning if I had to pick between the 2 also. I'm traditional, love those kinda things, and emotional. It'll be a smaller ceremony with the people I've studied with and worked with so I think it means a bit more than graduation. My grandmother was an RN, and I hope I can have her pin me.
OP, look at it this way, you might someday regret not going. But if you go, you probably won't regret being there.
You may not have regrets cuz you dont know what you missed. I would have gone for my own sake to be there with my instructors and fellow students, but that's just me.
Just thinking about the pinning brings tears to my eyes. I have a long way to go (I start in the fall) and pray that I make it to pinning and graduation.
Perhaps, but I've never been that type of person. It is a cultural thing. I also skipped my high school graduation, do not make a big fuzz about my birthday, etc etc. I've never thought and never will think, "Oh darn I should have gone to pinning." Looking at my degree and license gives me enough satisfaction.
Specializes in Critical Care; Cardiac; Professional Development.
If you are like most people, you didn't get here alone. It took input, patience, support etc from people around you, including your family and friends. Others get something out of this too. Even if it is not your thing, consider what it might mean to those who have been an intrical part of this journey to be able to have the "closure" and accomplishment of seeing you finish it.
Ceremonies aren't for everyone and there is nothing wrong with that. But they aren't JUST about the graduate either.
Not to be rude, but I just want to stress that my views are purely cultural. The American culture is very sentimental, these celebrations are important, I understand. My culture is the opposite. Whenever I get my mom a birthday present, she yells at me because it is not commonly done in our culture, she thinks it is a waste of money (yes, wrap your head around that idea). Oh the joys of being a first generation American. Maybe one day I can be more mainstream with the American culture when I have my own family. But for now, I am deep in my home country's ideologies.
I decided to go to mine at the last minute, and did not take any family with me. I finally decided to go because I wanted my pin...
For our portraits (complete with our school's cap and pin) the photographer used a really lovely pin (enamaled, with the school logo, etc). That was the pin I expected to get, so I went to the ceremony. THe pin I got there was a disappointment, to say the least. Plus, it was so dull my instructor had trouble getting it through my blouse!
We "shared" the ceremony with some other rather random groups (vet techs?). The only student speaker was from another group, even though we had about 90 graduates as opposed to the other groups of 5 to 10.
I was sorry I went, especially since I had busted my butt all day at work (as an aide) and rushed to change and get there on time.
I am going to my pinning; but honestly, as it gets closer, I really don't want to. My favorite professor is pinning us, but still, I am not one who is a big "go me" person. I hate people looking at me, hate the "go me" moments, and don't really want to spend money on a dress that has to be black. It, to me, is becoming an event in which I have to spend more money that I don't have (pin and dress).
But, pinning is the last thing for nurses that has survived; more traditional than anything. You get pinned and whatever else your school does.
Music in My Heart
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I went to mine and can truly state that, in retrospect, I'd just as soon have given it a pass. Just me.
Now, hanging at a BBQ in the park, indulging in suds and patting everybody on the back and wishing 'em well - that's right up my alley. The "nursing as a mission" and being "pinned" into the "sisterhood".... not so much.
To each his/her own.