Helping Others and Making an Impact

Bianca Van Ginkel grew up on a pig farm in Leslieville, Alberta, with three brothers and three sisters. After visiting Dordt’s campus, she knew that she wanted to attend. She considered many majors including engineering and business, but after envisioning what she wanted her life to look like, she decided that nursing was the major for her.

“I decided that nursing would be a good fit since I enjoy helping people and making an impact in tough situations,” she says.

She’s appreciated a lot of things about Dordt’s nursing program, including labs where she gets to practice hands-on skills with mannequins and to assess other students in her class.

“The professors are willing to give up their time to help students who are struggling in classes or in other areas of life,” she adds. “We also have great clinicals, where we get to experience what it means to be a nurse by caring for patients.”

Bianca also gets to help people and make an impact in tough situations through her on-campus work as a Learning Community Assistant (LCA). Part of her role includes planning events for underclassmen, where she and the Hall Council work together to come up with and execute event ideas. She also works one-on-one with students who are part of the Aspire Program, regularly checking in and encouraging them with their schoolwork.

“Being part of Res Life has increased my understanding of how other people think and how I should take their values into consideration when working with them,” she says. “This has also helped me to become a better nurse; now, when I meet people, I try to put myself in their shoes and figure out what their values and priorities are so that I can care for them better.”