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A Second Chance

Written by Matthew Reagan

Tuesday, 25 March 2008 05:55 PM

Hurrican Katrina only stalled alumna’s plans Hurricane Katrina may have swept away many people’s lives, leaving only a path of destruction and despair, but one university alumna overcame the tragedy and took her life in her own hands.

Nursing graduate Raechelle Robertson proved that disaster survivors can be successful and that there are opportunities for those who’ve lost everything.

Robertson said she sought sanctuary in Texas after leaving New Orleans. Her home, neighborhood and everything she had been working on was in the midst of a natural disaster from which there seemed no immediate relief or answers.

According to the Federal Emergency Management Agency, a total of 137,000 Hurricane Katrina evacuees were housed in shelters across Texas.

Robertson became part of that statistic, living at a Salvation Army relief area in Tarrant County for months, along with her mother and daughter. She said she worried what her next move would be.

While in Louisiana, she attended college and was planning on graduating with an associate’s degree in nursing.

After applying to finish her education at several local community colleges, Robertson was wait-listed, with no definite start date.

During that time, she said UTA’s School of Nursing tweaked its admission process to give hurricane evacuees a chance to complete their education.

Many had no access to their transcripts or verification of enrollment, so the university allowed the students to enroll in classes late, said Jean Ashwill, School of Nursing assistant dean for undergraduate student services.

Ashwill said 29 students were admitted under the special circumstances, and only about five graduated or are scheduled to graduate with a degree in nursing.

“The first time I saw [Raechelle], she was almost in a state of shock,” Ashwill said. “She was thinking – ‘Everything is gone. What am I going to do? What am I going to do with school?’ Everything was a mess.”

Ashwill assisted Robertson with her admission and registration process and she began classes in fall 2005.

“On a whim, I found an article in the Star-Telegram and just decided to give it a try,” Robertson said, referring to the university School of Nursing. “I was concerned about my new graduation target date but they definitely nourished me. They nurtured me and gave me a sense of what nursing should be.”

Robertson completed all of her pre-requisites and moved into the nursing program, and graduated in December 2007.

Robertson said she is proud to be a university alumna and gives credit to her professors and the School of Nursing faculty and staff.

“A lot of people tell us that automatically they can tell you are a UTA graduate,” she said. “I have been in contact with several people who have a bachelor’s in nursing from other schools and automatically I can tell the difference in what I’ve learned versus what they have learned. We are prepared technically better and managerially better – definitely scores ahead.”

Robertson is currently working in the internship program in the operating room at Zale Lipshy hospital at the UT-Southwestern Medical Center.

She expects to complete the program in August and to continue working in the operating room, with an emphasis in neurosurgery.
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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 22 April 2008 05:08 PM )

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