Adam P.

Something happened to Adam Palencia on his way to becoming a lawyer.  He decided it was more important to become a nurse.  And Bay State College was there to help him reach that goal.

Adam was a junior at a Boston-area college with a double major in criminal justice and legal studies when he realized his true calling. “I always wanted to focus on health and to help people,” he says.  “I just felt like I could really make an impact this way, so I just made that move.”  Initially, that move was to Physical Therapist Assistant (PTA) program at Bay State College.  But after being accepted at the College, Adam learned that a new program had just been launched there. “When I found out that Bay State was starting an associate degree in Nursing, I decided to apply to that program instead,” he says.  “I realized that I just wanted to reach out to a larger demographic of people.” 

For Adam, one of the highlights of his first year in the Nursing program was the opportunity to do his first clinical setting, assisting nurses during patient rounds at Newton-Wellesley Hospital.  “It was my first experience in actually working with patients, and it definitely showed me the reason why I want to get into nursing,” he smiles.  “At first you don’t feel that confident, but then when you start interacting with the patient, everything that I learned in the program just kicked in naturally.” 

While there’s a lot to like about Bay State, Adam says that for him, the sense of community is what really matters. “The biggest thing for me is the College’s small size and the community and how everyone is always willing to help each other,” he says. “I thought we were all going to be very competitive, which it usually is in nursing programs, but this experience has been different. We’ve all gotten really close to each other.   We’re definitely going to become best friends.”