By Rebecca Wolf, MSN-Ed, RN, CNE, Assistant Professor & Practical Nursing Certificate Program Coordinator

For me, choosing a career in nursing was about making a difference every single day. It's an honor to be trusted with people’s lives, their hopes and their fears. Every time I step into a patient's room I have the opportunity to bring not just knowledge and skill but also compassion, dignity and hope. Being a nurse means living a life of service, leadership and lifelong learning.

Reflecting on my experience at Greenfield Community College (GCC), I can say it was rigorous, and that’s how I knew I was getting a great education and being thoroughly prepared for the real world of nursing.

For years, GCC has held a reputation for creating amazing nurses for our community. Every time someone asks where I went to nursing school and I say "GCC" I can see that it means something to them. I am proud to be an alum and now I get to pass on my own knowledge to students in the very same classrooms I was in.

Personally, being a nurse has shaped every part of who I am. It has taught me resilience, empathy, and the power of human connection. Now, as a nursing professor, my role is to pass those lessons forward — to inspire the next generation to not only be clinically excellent but also to be kind, courageous, and ethically grounded.

Watching students grow into compassionate, competent nurses reminds me daily why I chose this path—and why I would choose it all over again.