Abigail Parker, BSN, RN ’26

The Lessons She Brought Home

Abigail transferred to Edgewood University in search of something many students don’t realize they need until it’s missing: connection.

After attending a large out-of-state university, she experienced all the college classics: dorm life, large lecture classes, and joined a sorority. While she thought stepping outside her comfort zone would help her find her place, Abigail never felt truly connected to her professors, peers, or campus life.

She wanted professors who knew her name, classrooms where she felt comfortable raising her hand, classmates who would become best friends, and a community that would support her growth—and encourage each other when things became difficult.

She found all of that—and more—in Edgewood’s nursing program.

What she didn’t expect was an experience that would profoundly impact her and change the way she sees the world.

During winter break of her senior year, Abigail traveled to Cambodia, joining faculty and students on a medical service trip. The experience exposed her to healthcare systems, cultural traditions, and levels of resource scarcity she had never encountered before. It shifted her perspective and taught her that some of the most powerful forms of care aren’t found in advanced technology or clinical procedures, but in showing up, building trust, and doing what you can with what you have.

“One day, I fought back tears as we toured a hospital,” Abigail shared. “They have so little, but they’re some of the happiest and most grateful people I’ve ever met.”

The trip offered countless moments that will stay with her throughout her nursing career—and a lens she would never gain without firsthand experience. She met children who had never used a toothbrush, cared for patients in rural communities with limited access to healthcare, and provided care to children who had been abandoned at an orphanage. Learning to adapt when familiar resources weren’t available, Abigail discovered that compassionate care is often less about having every answer and more about empathy, adaptability, and human connection.

Like many students embarking on a service-learning experience, she initially viewed the trip through a lens of helping others. And although her Edgewood clinicals made her fall in love—again—with the nursing profession, one of the most important lessons she learned wasn’t clinical at all.

“I thought we were going there to help,” she shared. “But we were really going there to learn how to be better helpers. They’re teaching us how to be better people and healthcare providers.”

When she returned, Abigail found herself looking at everyday life through a much different lens. She thought about the luxuries of running water, electricity, heat, and a fully stocked medicine cabinet. Even having a toothbrush carries new meaning. The experience deepened her gratitude, strengthened her sense of purpose, and reinforced the kind of nurse she aspires to become.

For Abigail, clinical skills are critically important, but she knows her career as a registered nurse is about so much more. It’s about meeting people where they are, listening before responding, and recognizing that every patient has something to teach her. That’s a lesson she learned at Edgewood—and one that will continue to influence every patient, every family, and every community she serves.