Shoreline Winter 2025 Nursing Pinning

Shoreline Community College celebrated its Winter 2025 cohort of Nursing graduates with a pinning ceremony on March 19, 2025. Hundred of family, friends, faculty, staff and guests gathered to witness the special moment. Below is my speech for the occasion.

Good evening graduates, families, faculty, and honored guests. Thank you for attending the Winter 25 Nursing Pinning at Shoreline Community College.

What does an angel look like to you? In 2006, while teaching mathematics in New Jersey, I suddenly fell severely ill. My wife called 911, and to my surprise, one of the responding EMT was my own student—a nursing student volunteer. During that ride, in my moment of fear and pain, she was calm and reassuring: "Dr. Weng, we'll take care of you and you will be alright," she said. It was a short ride to the hospital, and she didn't treat me medically, but her presence was healing. She was an angel in my eyes.

Every healer has an angel in them. There are over two hundred nursing students at Shoreline, and each one is an angel at heart. Today, we celebrate 37 of them who are officially ready to help and heal anyone in need, anytime and anywhere.

Dear graduates: The pin you receive today connects you to a noble tradition dating back to Florence Nightingale. It symbolizes not just your educational achievement, but your commitment to a profession that demands both technical expertise and profound compassion. I salute you.

When I look at this graduating class, I see individuals who have mastered the medical skills and the emotional intelligence needed to care for patients at their most vulnerable. You have persevered through demanding coursework and challenging clinicals, and you balanced learning with family and work responsibilities. You are incredible.

Graduates! Accept your pins with pride in what you've accomplished and with humility for the responsibility you now bear. You've chosen a path of service and healing. I thank you and I am proud of you.

To the families and friends who supported these graduates: thank you. Thank you for making dinner,  watching the kids and doing all the chores while your future nurse studied, and for being supportive and understanding when they are frustrated and tired from school work. This celebration is for you too.

To our faculty and staff: your dedication has shaped these students into the professionals they are today. You have made our students better, and the world will be better because of them.

Please join me in congratulating the Nursing graduates for Winter 2025.

​(Photo credit: VP Joe Mazur)