This was the second pinning ceremony I have had the honor of participating in. My first pinning ceremony was for my LPN school graduation four years ago. Last week, I graduated the RN program and was pinned again. It was such an emotional and happy experience to finally achieve the goal that I have been working towards for the past five years.  It honestly feels surreal- I can’t believe I really have graduate nursing school!

Pinning ceremonies are a beautiful welcome to the profession of nursing. If you have never been to one and the opportunity presents itself, I highly recommend you attend. {Read my blog post about the history and meaning of the pinning ceremony by clicking here.}  All of my family said this one one of the best graduations they had ever attended (and my family has attended a LOT of graduations!) Pinning is much more personal and intimate than a typical commencement ceremony where you walk with hundreds of fellow graduates. The pinning ceremony is only for the graduating nursing class and is a symbolic welcome to the profession of nursing.

I was blessed to have many family members and friend celebrate the day with me. I received gifts and cards in the mail, phone calls, and text messages throughout the week congratulating me. Family from both Ohio and Florida made the trip to South Carolina to attend pinning and celebrate with me, which was very special. Thank you so much to all the family and friends who celebrated with me either at pinning or from afar! I love you all so much!

My mom and I realized while discussing where to go after pinning that we have gone out for Mexican after all of my graduations. High School, LPN nursing school, and when Bradley and I graduated in 2015. We decided there was no need to mess with tradition- so to our favorite Mexican restaurant we went! (Unfortunately- we all forgot to take pictures at dinner!)

My parents surprised me after dinner by continuing the celebration at the hotel they were staying in. They had rented a suite which had a nice size living room. When I walked in I was greeted with a room full of people, cake, and champagne! The challenge was there was no electric- we had a terrible hail storm during dinner and it knocked out power at the hotel. However, we didn’t let a lack of light spoil the fun. It was a very sweet and fun ending to an amazing day!

THANK YOU to all the amazing followers and supporters of my blog! THANK YOU for allowing me to share this adventure and journey with all of you. I hope you will continue to follow along as I enter the world of NCLEX and become a New Graduate RN!