Undergraduate Nursing Student

Receives Overall Excellence Award

from the MU Sinclair School of Nursing

Contact: Pam Roe
S218 School of Nursing
(573) 884-2690

April 23 , 2007

COLUMBIA , Mo. – Elyssa Bumgarner believes that while you may be just one person to the world, you could be the world to just one person. That simple statement sums up why she wants to be a nurse.

Bumgarner plans to be a part of a life-touching career that allows her to help as many people as she can. As a small child, her mother nicknamed her “Band-Aid Girl” because of her compassion for helping others. She has always had an intense desire to live her life as a person who has made a difference in other's lives.

“Elyssa is a highly motivated, responsible, accountable student who accepts and enjoys challenging situations,” said Chris Grider, instructor of clinical nursing at the MU Sinclair School of Nursing. “I can not say enough about her commitment to life-long learning and nursing. She is not only an excellent student, but she is involved in student organizations that make a difference here at the School.”

Her determination and passion were the deciding factors in her receiving the Sixth-Semester BSN Student Award for Overall Excellence at the School's annual banquet on April 13. She is the daughter of Jim and Phyllis Bumgarner of Springfield , Mo.

Since being accepted into the school, Bumgarner has come to understand that nurses are responsible for saving and touching lives while sometimes giving meaning to life itself. And through the hundreds and thousands of patients that will cross her path, being the world to just one of them is worth all of her hard work.

-30-