Emma Hovestadt NU’25 is fulfilling a lifelong dream at Penn. During her frequent childhood hospital stays, Emma connected with her nurses and was intrigued by the intricacies of their daily routines. As she got older, her experiences with nannying sparked her interest in infant and maternal healthcare, and she chose the University as the ideal location to pursue her nursing degree. “Penn’s connection to a city hospital system offers students many opportunities to work in a variety of specialized units. I have been fortunate to learn from experts in neonatal intensive care, labor and delivery, and lactation, while my friends within the program can choose to focus more specifically on nutrition, health communications, and more.”
Emma’s extracurricular involvement has expanded her awareness of the nursing field even further. Through Student Nurses at Penn (SNAP), she has traveled to nursing conventions in Tennessee and Utah, explored the ways in which nurses contribute to policymaking, and learned to write resolutions to advocate for healthcare topics at the legislative level. Emma has also enjoyed working as a peer advisor to help incoming first-years ease into their Penn education. “I really benefited from having a peer mentor as a freshman, and now I get to pay it forward and pass the torch.” Beyond nursing, Emma is involved in a pre-professional sorority for women in STEM which has allowed her to cultivate friendships with peers across the University’s four undergraduate schools. “While I love my friends and the curriculum in the Nursing School, the specialized focus of our work can sometimes cause us to feel isolated from other students across campus. Through this sorority, I’ve connected with peers in every school who I may not have encountered otherwise.”
As a named scholarship recipient, Emma acknowledges the life-changing power of the alumni donor community. “This gift has helped to make a Penn education accessible for me. I’m very thankful that I know the name of the alum who has supported my scholarship, that I can thank them personally and express my gratitude.”
After graduation, Emma plans to utilize her skills and expertise as a neonatal intensive care nurse, either in a city center or within a rural community. “Hospitals in rural settings often have fewer resources than those in urban areas. You have to be more adaptive and help bridge gaps to access, and working with a smaller population allows you to form stronger connections with your patients.” This ability to build relationships is what inspired Emma to pursue nursing in the first place: “That’s what sets nursing apart from other healthcare professions—the high level of patient interaction encourages relationship building. Penn has trained us to engage with each patient as a whole person, rather than a chart, to provide the most thorough, compassionate, and accurate care.”
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