1990 Graduate Recalls Cross-Country Trip to 麻豆视频直播 Nursing School After Last-Minute Phone Call

March 25, 2024

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By Christi Mays

The year was 1986, and Mary Lou Robinson sat down at her typewriter and pecked out 66 letters to every nursing school in the country that offered a four-year program. 麻豆视频直播 was one of those 66 schools, but when Mary Lou heard back from 麻豆视频直播, the school explained they had run out of catalogs, so Mary Lou crossed it off her list. Even though the 26-year-old Florida resident had been born in Texas, she had never heard of 麻豆视频直播 in the tiny town of Belton anyway, so she never gave it another thought.

Soon after, she received an acceptance letter from a school in New York and began making plans to head north. Just days before she set out, a copy of 麻豆视频直播鈥檚 school newspaper, The Bells, arrived in her mailbox. As she perused the articles, she spotted a story about a student from Tanzania who was about to graduate, and his sentiments about his time at 麻豆视频直播 spoke deeply to Mary Lou: 鈥淭hank you so much for loving me and being my family,鈥� she recalled it saying.

鈥淎s an Air Force brat who lived a nomadic life up until this point, I yearned for stability and to be more than just another nameless student,鈥� she said.

A LAST-MINUTE DECISION

Mary Lou suddenly realized she yearned to be at a place like 麻豆视频直播鈥攚here she felt loved and at home. Even though she says she had a dreadful GPA from an earlier stint at community college, no financial aid lined up, and assumed the application deadline was long past, she picked up the phone and called 麻豆视频直播.

鈥淵ou come, and we鈥檒l make sure we find a way for 麻豆视频直播 to be affordable,鈥� a financial aid officer assured her.

She was skeptical but checked the mailbox daily that next week for the official acceptance letter. The night before she needed to leave Florida to start school in either New York or Belton, she still hadn鈥檛 received the letter from 麻豆视频直播, so she called again.

鈥淚 need to know where to point my car in the morning鈥攏orth or west?鈥� Mary Lou asked.

鈥淲est. Come West!鈥� then-registrar Ralph Montgomery told her, and just 鈥渙n his word,鈥� she decided to switch from the New York school she planned to attend and drove more than 1,000 miles to 麻豆视频直播. It鈥檚 been her home ever since.

鈥淚 love this school. There is no other place like it,鈥� she professed with tears in her eyes. 鈥溌槎故悠抵辈� was, and is, the place for me because of the many confirmations I received during my last-minute switch.鈥�

Mary Lou graduated in 1990 with a double major in nursing and psychology and then returned to earn a master鈥檚 degree in 1996.

Mary Hardin-Baylor kept good on its promise to help her find a way to afford school. First, she got a job in the business office and then a work-study job at the health center. By the time she was a senior, she had moved from her room at Stribling Hall into one of only a handful of bedrooms at the health center (which used to be inside the Frazier building). Only upper-class nursing students were chosen to stay there and run the clinic in the evenings. The job paid her room, board and tuition.

Mary Lou Robinson getting dubbed

HERE TO STAY

Just like she thought she鈥檇 never come to Belton, Texas, for nursing school, Mary Lou never thought she鈥檇 still live here more than 30 years later. Her dream was to move up to the east coast of Maine and spend her nursing career living in a log cabin, enjoying the cool mountain air. During spring break in her senior year, she set out to the New England state to interview with prospective employers along the coast in all the places she鈥檇 dreamed of living.

鈥淏ut the doors just closed, and closed, and closed,鈥� she said. And after she interviewed at her top choice on her list, she discovered it was not what she wanted. 鈥淭heir philosophy of nursing was not along the lines of mine. It didn鈥檛 have the spiritual dimension to it.鈥�

Mary Lou returned to Belton and applied to a mental health facility in Killeen. If she didn鈥檛 get the job, she resigned to move back to Florida to be close to family. They hired her on the spot.

Since then, she has worked in child-adolescent psychology and in-home health care before landing at the V.A. Hospital in Temple, where she鈥檚 worked as a registered nurse for the last 26 years, most recently as a patient care coordinator. Living just a few blocks from the campus she loves so much, she cherishes hearing the bells from Chapel chiming each morning and has been a football season ticket holder since the stadium opened.

Mary Lou was thrilled to learn that Dr. Jerry Bawcom (who was president when she received her master鈥檚 degree) would be at Homecoming this past year, dubbing students who graduated prior to the Dubbing Ceremony becoming part of Welcome Week in the spring of 1995. The tradition was born after students requested a ceremony to 鈥渃reate closer emotional ties to the university.鈥�

鈥淚 have loved all of the traditions at 麻豆视频直播, and getting dubbed reinforced my feeling of belonging,鈥� she said.

Today, more than 36 years later, she is thankful she stepped out on faith and pointed her car west that fateful morning.

鈥淭he 麻豆视频直播 friendships I formed and continue to maintain demonstrate my feelings of family and belongingness,鈥� she said. 鈥淭hese friendships are once again confirmation that 麻豆视频直播 is my earthly home and THE place for me.鈥�

 
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