Board of Directors, 2019-2020
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Amanda Degen, President
contactvnsa@gmail.com Hello fellow Virginia Nursing Students! My name is Amanda Degen and I am honored to be serving as President for this next year. I am currently in the advanced BSN program at South University in Richmond. I graduated from Christopher Newport University in 2015 with a Bachelors in Biology and a minor in Leadership. I was lead to nursing a few years later and was accepted into the accelerated program at South University. I am excited to graduate in June 2020. I am looking forward to contributing to the VNSA Board of Directors by increasing communication and maintaining relationships with the other board members. Some of my goals include increasing VNSA membership across the state specifically in some colleges that membership is falling. I would also like to spread awareness about the VNSA convention, which is the perfect place for students to be able to network and develop professional connections as well as learn more information about different nursing paths. I am blessed and humbled to be able to serve alongside my fellow board members. Please feel free to contact me with any comments, questions or concerns. |
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Kelsey Ostrowski, 1st Vice President
contactvnsa@gmail.com Hello nursing students of Virginia! My name is Kelsey Ostrowski and I am very excited to serve you as First Vice President for the 2019-2020 VNSA Board of Directors. I am a rising senior in Longwood University's nursing program and it will be my honor to plan the 2020 Annual VNSA State Convention for all nursing students of Virginia to attend! I am hoping to bring a variety of engaging lectures, NCLEX reviews, and interactive sessions to next years convention. I am dedicated to creating a positive environment for student nurses to immerse themselves in experiences and knowledge that will impact their future careers. My goal is to promote individualism, service, and leadership in the future nurses of Virginia. Please reach out to me if you have any questions or concerns. I am looking forward to seeing everyone at the convention! |
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Savannah Beard, Secretary
contactvnsa@gmail.com Hi! I’m Savannah Beard. I am a senior in Radford University’s nursing program and I graduate in December of 2019. I am a member of Radford’s Student Nursing Organization and our local Children’s Miracle Network. I am now Secretary on the board of the Virginia Nursing Student Association. A little bit about myself; I am from a small town in Virginia, called Clifton Forge. I graduated high school planning to go to WVU to major in Criminal Justice. However, my plans drastically changed that summer. I chose the field of nursing because I knew I wanted to care for, save and advocate for people. I wanted to be able to care for patients from their very worst to their best. I knew that I would never get to see that as a police officer, so I changed my major and enrolled at one of the best nursing schools in Virginia. My main goal for VNSA is to bring more attention to it; especially our annual convention. I know that when I started nursing school I heard of VNSA a minimal amount of times. I was never told what the association valued or what their goal was exactly. This semester I decided to go to the convention to see what those values and goals are, and I do not regret it one bit. I am very excited for this opportunity and I am ready to let everyone know what VNSA is all about! |
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Meghan Andrews, Treasurer
contactvnsa@gmail.com Hello! My name is Meghan Andrews, and I am a junior nursing student at James Madison University. I am honored to be serving as the VNSA Treasurer. I have been a member of JMU NSA since my freshman year, and I am currently the chair-elect for the BSN Governance Committee at JMU. My goal is to ensure that all funds are utilized efficiently by incorporating student ideas while maintaining a firm budget. I am so thankful that I was elected to serve on the board of directors and I am looking forward to a fantastic year! |
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Connor Grossoehme, Breakthrough to Nursing Director
contactvnsa@gmail.com Good day VNSA! My name is Connor Grossoehme and I am honored to serve as your Breakthrough to Nursing Director for the 2019-2020 school year! I am currently a junior at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia. Upon graduation I will be commissioning as a Second Lieutenant into the United States Army Nurse Corps! As your Breakthrough to Nursing Director, my goals for this year are to hear from you about all the events you and your chapters do across the commonwealth! I want your chapters to shine and with that I hope to help make that happen! Each of your chapters have something unique about them. I want to take those unique ideas/events and allow for others across the state to partake in them! One of my favorite quotes is from John C. Maxwell and he defines a leader as one who, “knows the way, goes the way and shows the way”. That is my promise to you all! With the help of my fellow board members, I pray that this be a year where we can make a change not only across the state but also in this great nation! I am ecstatic to meet you all throughout the year and look forward to serving you! |
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Kelsey Nafzger, Nominations and Elections Chairperson
contactvnsa@gmail.com Hey VA! My name is Kelsey Nafzger, and I am honored and humbled to serve as your Nominations and Elections Chairperson for the 2019-20 term. My goal this upcoming year is to encourage scholarship and leadership throughout our incredible state. As nurses, we need to be leading the healthcare profession with excellence, and I believe it is critical to start leading now – at the state level. I also hope to empower more students financially through the various scholarships that VNSA offers. If you have any questions on how the election process works or how you can be more involved in leadership or if you have any recommendations regarding scholarships, please do not hesitate to reach out; I would love to talk with you! |
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Sarah Sorowice, Policy Initiatives Director
contactvnsa@gmail.com Hello to my fellow nursing students, my name is Sarah and I am a junior at Liberty University. It is my privilege and honor to serve you as the VNSA policies and initiatives director. Remaining informed and up-to-date on changes to healthcare policy is important to not only providing great, overall patient care but also in understanding the “ins and outs” of nursing as a career. My goals for this year are to make learning about new policies easier than ever by having the information readily available and presenting it in an easy to understand format. I also hope to further educate nursing students about how we can have a say through the creation of resolutions. Drafting resolutions may seem like an intimidating task to take on but I hope to teach the constituencies how to create resolutions and encourage them to pick topics that their members are passionate about to increase participation. I want to help each and every one of you that wants to learn more about policies and resolutions and hope you will not hesitate to reach out with any questions you may have. I look forward to the opportunity to meet some of you throughout this year! |
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Jasmine Pandya, Torch Editor
contactvnsa@gmail.com Hello Virginia nursing students! My name is Jasmine Pandya. I am currently in the accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing program at South University in Richmond, VA. I am excited to be to serving as your Torch Editor this year! As Torch Editor, I hope to bring awareness about the VNSA to students, nurses, and potential future members throughout the state, bring attention to the accomplishments and activities of local chapters, and encourage members to contribute articles or provide suggestions for topics to be published in the Torch of Union. Along with working with currently active local chapters to contribute to our publication, I also hope to reach out to less active chapters to bring attention to their successes and help increase involvement in the annual VSNA state convention. If anyone is interested in writing an article for the publication or have any ideas on subjects you would like to see in the journal, please feel free to reach out to me! I am looking forward hearing from you this year and meeting many of you at the next annual state convention! |
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Nathalie Chao, Director at Large
contactvnsa@gmail.com Hello Nursing Students of Virginia! My name is Nathalie Chao and I am incredibly honored to serve as your Director at Large for the 2019-2020 term! I am currently a junior nursing student at James Madison University, where I am an active member of the JMU Nursing Students’ Association as well as a mentor to pre-nursing students. Additionally, I served as a delegate for last year’s convention! As your Director at Large, my role consists of organizing the Council of Student Leaders Summit and helping to plan the annual VNSA state convention. This year, my mission is to bridge the gap between our local chapters to foster an environment of diversity, inclusivity, and collaboration, where together, we can develop professionally as leaders and celebrate our passion for the nursing profession. I aspire to enhance involvement within our organization as well as our local chapters, and I would love to hear about any ideas you may have for convention! If you have any suggestions or are interested in becoming more involved in VNSA, please feel free to reach out to me. I look forward to working with you all this year! |
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Victoria Fisher, Historian
contactvnsa@gmail.com Hello Nursing Students of Virginia! I am so incredibly excited and honored to serve as the Historian of the VNSA for the 2019-2020 year. I am a sophomore at Liberty University pursuing my Bachelors of Science in Nursing. At Liberty University, we believe that to be a nurse is to be the hands and feet of Christ at the bedside. As future nurses, we are called to understand, wipe tears, heal, support, teach, encourage, listen, laugh, and comfort our patients and their families. With each day that passes, we know that we will touch a life, or a life will touch ours. As the Historian, I hope to portray this wonderful world of nursing, all that the VNSA is involved in, as well as the impact we as future nurses will have. My goal for this year is not only to display these opportunities, but also encourage local chapters to get involved with the VNSA, not just their school chapter. The VNSA has so many opportunities, especially the conventions, that will not only strengthen but encourage each student to pursue their call to nursing. I would love to speak to you all about these opportunities as well as any other questions that you may have! Here’s to an awesome year! |
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Tess Seibel, PRN
contactvnsa@gmail.com Hi Virginia! My name is Tess Seibel, and I am humbled to serve this year as the VSNA PreNursing Representative. I have an anticipated graduation of December 2021 from James Madison University’s School of Nursing. I will be a fourth-generation nurse in my family, with my mom receiving her BSN from JMU, so I’m looking forward to continuing the legacy of nursing in my family. My goals for this year include increasing the participation of pre-nursing students across the state in VSNA activities (including convention), as well as promoting inclusivity for all people, pre-nursing and nursing alike. I hope to make the opportunities available for pre-nursing students clearly visible and encourage those not yet in nursing school to start their growth as young professionals early. If you are a pre-nursing student or have ideas about how to get pre-nursing students involved, I’m here to learn from you! |
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Logan Kantsios, Graduate Advisor
contactvnsa@gmail.com Hello everyone my name is Logan Kantsios, I graduated Radford University in Dec. 2018 with my BSN and currently I’m working on the Nerancy Neuro ICU at the University of Virginia Health Systems. I was the Director-at-Large and then First Vice President for the Virginia Nursing Student Association (VNSA) from Feb. 2017 – April 2018. Then in April 2018 – 19 I was elected to the National Student Nurses Association Board of Directors (NSNA) as the Breakthrough to Nursing Director. I was elected to the position of Graduate Advisor for the VNSA in February 2019. I look forward to working for the new VNSA Board of Directors providing advice and guidance when needed. |
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Sandra Annan, Faculty Advisor
annansl@jmu.edu or contactvnsa@gmail.com |