Faith Fasoore gets an undeniable feeling when she knows something is right.

“I always go with what makes me leap on the inside, then I know it’s something I should do.”

A rising senior at IU School of Nursing in Bloomington, Faith has felt that sensation twice while exploring clinical experiences.

“The two instances I felt joy were when I did a nursing rotation with kids and when I was in the mother and baby unit at IU Health Bloomington Hospital,” says Faith. “I think it’s so important—and has been very beneficial—to see so many different rotations so that we go into nursing with our best foot forward.”

Even before entering IUSON, Faith knew a lot about nursing. Her parents were both nurses before they became full-time pastors.

“They saw some qualities in me from a young age, and they would always tell me, ‘oh, you’re going to be doing something in the health profession.’”

An honors student at Brownsburg High School, Faith was accepted into IU School of Nursing with nearly a perfect 4.0 GPA after her freshman year at IU Bloomington. And while she never struggled in school, she says the transition to the nursing program was more challenging than she expected.

“I didn’t understand why I wasn't doing well on the exams, and at first I was embarrassed to ask for help,” Faith explains. “I finally went to my professors and ended up getting great support—my professors, Pat Watts, Abby Berg and Amanda Brashear—they helped me so much and invested so much time with me.”

The three instructors helped Faith develop study and test taking strategies that have worked. Instead of focusing on memorization, Faith shifted her attention to learning how to apply what she learned to the questions that were being asked. Her exam grades have improved in the past year, and she’s regaining the academic confidence she had before nursing school.

“It took me a while to understand why I wasn't doing well, and then I realized that I’m more of a hands-on learner,” Faith says. “The clinical rotations have been really great for me.”

As she prepares to enter her last year of nursing school, Faith is excited about the future. A recipient of the Veldman Family Nursing Scholarship at IU School of Nursing, she’s been able to help pay for the last two years of college, which was a goal she set for herself. The scholarship application essay gave her an opportunity to write about the academic challenges she’s faced and how, with the support of her professors and renewed confidence in herself, she’s been able to move forward.

“I wrote about how the experience has made me think more about becoming a nursing professor and working to help students make the changes they need to succeed.”