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Tracey A.C. Young

Please share a little bit about your background and what led you to Goodwin College.

When I started the nursing program I was asked, “Why nursing?” I started life as a surgical technologist working in an operating room. Life moved forward and I continued my career in Florida with a plastic surgeon. My next incarnation brought me to a dermatology office (hired because of my surgery experience). That rapidly progressed to a self-defined role as “the go to person for any difficulty,” whether a patient, employee, doctor, or manager. During that same period, I became a massage therapist and ran my own practice for 15 years.

Then the unthinkable happened: my mother developed a brain tumor. I flew back from Florida every month to help her until she needed my assistance full-time. I was the primary caregiver. Over an 18-month period, she was hospitalized three times and received several different treatments at various facilities. I had the opportunity to see “a lot of medicine,” including the areas that worked and all the areas that are struggling. I remember telling Ed Kobilanski, my Nursing 100 instructor, that I have to get through this program if I want to be able to change anything in medicine down the road. He said that was “really deep,” and my response was that I was really old!

Describe your experience at Goodwin and what made the college and your program the most worthwhile.

My reasoning for choosing Goodwin was that it offered a two year program that allow me to get out there and working in a shorter period while I continued on for my BSN/MSN. I found a college small enough to guide me through the rigors of becoming a student-again. From admissions officer Claudia Lange through all my pre-program instructors such Deb Rajaniemi (AP I), Dr. Dhar (Chemistry), and Dr. Joe Gillen (Sociology), I found encouragement to keep me going. Then of course came all the nursing instructors both clinical and lecturers, like Nursing Department Chair Jan Costello, and Marlene Harris, the best administrative assistant ever. I can’t imagine feeling as well supported by staff in a larger university setting.

The friendships that I made here at this school can never be taken lightly and shall remain with me all of my days. They all helped me get past my fears, work out my concerns, and stay somehow grounded in a program that took all my focus.

What is your favorite quote?

I have three actually. The first came from a movie long ago called Gumball Rally…..
“The first rule of Italian driving is whatsa behind me is not important” (as the driver rips off the rearview mirror and toss it out of the convertible!). This holds true in life: your past does not have to be your future.

“We the willing, led by the unknowing,
are doing the impossible for the ungrateful.
We have done so much, for so long with so little,
we are now capable of doing anything with nothing.”
This is probably why they call me “McGyver” now, and comes in handy when I’m feeling very frustrated.

My welding instructor said to me when we put the cap to my railing on backwards….
“Every problem can be fixed; some fixes are just easier than others.”
This really keeps me grounded in problem solving.

What inspires you most?

Learning — “getting it,” or seeing someone else “get it”. Learning is a never-ending process and I love the concept of learning, growing, changing, and incorporating new knowledge even into unrelated areas. I wasn’t sure I was ready to handle school again, so I took a class….in decorative welding! What I got out of that was a rekindling of my love of learning new things. It reawakened my creativity which I use in all areas of my life-especially in my office, where they have dubbed me “McGyver.” I used that creativity in clinical with patients (assisting the physical therapist in positioning a patient with an oddly fractured arm). I also used my creativity in coming up with an idea to revise a piece of physical therapy equipment so the patients’ energy would go into the exercise and not trying to keep their foot in place.

What do you hope to do after leaving college?

That has changed. Previously, I wanted to further my education, consider becoming an APRN, and finding a way to help the nursing students and potential nursing students of this school find their way through the program as well. Now it’s to find a job! I do still intend on staying connected with this program by helping upcoming students, including helping them to understand what to expect from the program and what the program expects from them as students. I want to help them develop their own guidelines to co-create their future. The truth is that it’s up to us as students to create our future, not the program.

Do you have a role model? Who?

I have too many to count. It will sound like the Oscars if I start listing them. Let’s just say I’ve made sure to seek out a role model in every stage of my life and for nearly every area of my life. Role models come in all forms, from parents to strangers. Role models are presented to us everyday, if we choose to see them as such.

Tracey graduates from Goodwin College on Sunday, June 13.