Melissa: Class of 2020!

In early March, as she prepared for her upcoming graduation from nursing school, the always awesome Melissa and I got together for a portrait session celebrating the occasion. I've held off on posting them because she wanted to give them to her mom and dad to surprise them on her actual graduation day.







Fast forward to where we are now; it's a pretty different landscape than we were expecting back then, and like so many other grads, Melissa unfortunately found herself having her actual commencement and pinning ceremonies canceled out of an abundance of caution. But even though the ceremonies have been called off, nothing can take away what she and so many others have accomplished. So now that her parents have gotten to see the photos, I can finally share a handful of my favorites from her session. I also wanted to shout it out that I'm proud to know her and call her a friend. She's smart, determined, and compassionate, and I can't wait to see the amazing things she does in the world.









Perhaps she said it best this morning when she shared a few of the photos on her own wall:

"I write this post with some sadness (selfishly) because we won’t be able to be celebrated the way we were promised, but whether we walk across the stage or not, our accomplishments are real and no person OR virus can ever take that away. While this journey was tough physically, mentally and emotionally, I can finally, PROUDLY, say: 'My name is Melissa, and I’ll be your nurse today!'"











Congrats and love to Melissa...you did it! Now get out there and show 'em what you've got...safely!