Stories

From the field to clinicals, with passion and perseverance Sarah Generoso '25 has made the most of her time at NDMU. As a two-sport athlete and standout nursing student, Sarah found strength in a supportive campus community and forged lifelong friendships.

What started with an AP Psychology class in high school became a lifelong calling for Rebecca Becraft '25. At Notre Dame of Maryland University, she built a foundation for empathy and understanding. Now Rebecca is ready to make an impact in mental health care and inspire the next generation.

Growing up in Nigeria, John Jegede, Pharm.D.'25 always knew he wanted to be a doctor. After the heartbreaking loss of his sister who was studying pharmacy, John found a calling to carry her legacy forward. Even through the many challenges John faced as an international student, he met it all with unwavering faith. “God has been faithful through turbulent seasons,” he said. Now, as he graduates, John sets his sights on a future in transplant pharmacy.

Lavorette Preston ’00, M’03, D'25 describes her college journey as “an emotional rollercoaster ride unlike any other found in an amusement park that ended up being the most rewarding ride of my lifetime.” That ride began years ago in NDMU’s Weekend College program, where she balanced a full-time job with her coursework. A human resources professional for more than two decades, she has spent much of her career hiring and mentoring young workers. It’s this experience that fueled her doctoral research in youth workforce readiness.

The NDMU School of Pharmacy has a great balance between didactics and leadership/extracurricular opportunities, which has prepared me to enter the real world and impact patients’ lives. The thing I love most about NDMU is the culture and environment the school sets for its students. As a class, we came here as strangers and now we are parting ways as one big family.

The NDMU School of Pharmacy has a great balance between didactics and leadership/extracurricular opportunities, which has prepared me to enter the real world and impact patients’ lives. The thing I love most about NDMU is the culture and environment the school sets for its students. As a class, we came here as strangers and now we are parting ways as one big family.

The NDMU School of Pharmacy has a great balance between didactics and leadership/extracurricular opportunities, which has prepared me to enter the real world and impact patients’ lives. The thing I love most about NDMU is the culture and environment the school sets for its students. As a class, we came here as strangers and now we are parting ways as one big family.

For close to three years, Amelia King worked a 4:30 to 9:30 a.m. shift at Amazon before heading to NDMU for her classes. She also mixed in a second job selling insurance for State Farm on the side. All in all, King worked six days a week for a majority of her college career, using her one “off day” to catch up on coursework and her personal life. Her perseverance, however, paid off in the end, as she already has a full-time job lined up at an accounting firm downtown where she interned this semester.

For Jennifer Connelly, adding a master’s degree while continuing to work full time as a clinical educator at MedStar Union Memorial Hospital initially felt like a daunting task. As she progressed, however, through NDMU's Leadership in Nursing Education program, Connelly realized that it was not just moving her career forward, but the University’s emphasis on caring science was also helping her strengthen her love for the profession.

Abdurrahmon Talabi dealt with a variety of challenges during his four years as a student in NDMU’s School of Pharmacy, including multiple hospitalizations caused by Hemoglobin SC disease (HgbSC), a form of sickle cell disease. Through strong relationships built with both his professors and fellow students, though, he was able to overcome those obstacles and match for a first-year residency at the prestigious Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia after graduation.