May 11, 2023 • 33 mins
Dr. Ralph Ford, chancellor of Penn State Behrend, talks with Yingxin “Cindy” Wu, winner of the 2023 Ralph Dorn Hetzel Memorial Award, about her experience as an international student at Behrend.
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Dr. Ralph Ford (00:00):
Hi, I'm Dr.
(00:00):
Ralph Ford, Chancellor of PennState Behrend and you are
(00:02):
listening to Behrend Talks. Myguest today is Cindy Wu, a
senior nursing student here atBehrend and the winner of the
2023 Ralph Dorn Hetzel MemorialAward, which recognizes
scholastic achievement, goodcitizenship and participation,
and leadership and studentactivities. And it's a big time
(00:22):
award. So congratulations onreceiving that, Cindy, and
welcome to the show.
Yingxin “Cindy” Wu (00:28):
Thank you very much. Thanks for having me.
Dr. Ralph Ford (00:30):
Well, it's a pleasure to have you here. And
before we get into thediscussion, I'm going to give a
little bit more background aboutyou. You are an international
student originally from China.
You serve as our Diversity,Equity and Inclusion chair for
the Behrend Student GovernmentAssociation. You are president
of the Lion Entertainment Board,which organizes events for
students and has worked with theSouth Asian student organization
(00:52):
and the Global Eats program. Youwere a Lion Scout for our
admissions office, and a memberof the Multi-Cultural Council
and an assistant in theInternational Student Service
Office. You do a lot here. Butthere's just even a little more
for me to go through. And thisis all a good thing. You're
always a happy face to see hereon campus. You're involved in
(01:14):
everything but you raise money.
This is really significantfourth on this year, are well
known time running 12 miles andbiking 45 miles during the two
day show. So again, welcome hereto Behrend Talks.
Thank you.
An impressive list ofaccomplishments. But let's start
with a little bit, you know,about your background. You're a
graduate of Petawawa FranciscanHigh School, and that's over in
(01:36):
Parma, Ohio. Not all that faraway. But what's interesting is
that before that you studied inSwitzerland and Beijing. So
you've moved a lot of places inthe world. And, at least from my
experience, and observing youand working with you. And while
you're here at Behrend seem tothrive on these new experiences,
(01:56):
so just tell us a little bitabout moving around the world
Yingxin “Cindy” Wu (01:59):
Oh, so I started off studying abroad in
and how you got here.
Switzerland, the German speakingpart. And it was a different
experience, I have to say, thanthe high school that I went to
back home, and it took me alittle bit to adjust and to say
also keeping up with gradesbecause I don't know German at
(02:19):
all, when I decided to studyabroad. So figuring out language
and getting to know the country,the culture a little bit, it
took me a couple, a couple ofmonths. However, on the other
hand, I have a very supportivehost family. And they helped me
a lot during the process. And wehad a lot of fun. So after my
(02:42):
year of studying abroad, becauseI was enrolled in a public
exchange student program. So therule is like, you can stay in
one country for a year, however,the next year, you have to
switch countries. So originally,I was going to friends, I'm not
gonna lie, but um, you wantedFrance. I kind of loving the
(03:05):
culture a little bit after myyear in Switzerland. And then
there was an incident in I thinkit was like in front of the
French Parliament, a bridgesomewhere. And my mom's like,
you are not going, like I fillout all applications. She's
like, No, you're not going. Andso I kind of made a last minute
(03:27):
decision to look into theprograms that still open was in
the little program that I'm in.
And I came here.
Dr. Ralph Ford (03:36):
No. Well, you know, tell us a little bit
though, did you? Did you learnGerman while you were in
Switzerland? You said it was astruggle. But did you pick up
any German? Or could you make itthrough with enough English?
Yingxin “Cindy” Wu (03:47):
I definitely had to pick up German. Well, it
was it was fun, definitelystudying another language
because I feel like in otherlanguages, always a different
way of thinking and alsoblending in with different
culture perspective. So likeGerman, the sentence structure
is very fixated. You have to putverb on the second place.
Dr. Ralph Ford (04:11):
So it kind of gives you a little window into
the culture andeverybody'sthought process and
their thinking behind it. Andyou end up with these words and
sentences that are very, verylong. What let's talk though,
did you make friends? Were youable to build connections while
Yingxin “Cindy” Wu (04:27):
I did. My entire class was very flexible
you were there.
and very accepting. Not sure ifthat's the right word accepting.
Absolutely. Yeah. And it was areally nice experience. I
decided during my years socialand I decided to take this kind
of advanced level of math class,and I was we're just having fun
(04:51):
with some spheres with somecalculations, and I just really
loved hanging out with my group.
Dr. Ralph Ford (04:57):
And yeah, when you really act. If you're on
campus, as I said earlier, apresence that we often see here,
and I think, you know, presenceis the right word. And you've
become extremely active inextracurricular activities,
student leadership, why did yougravitate towards this in such a
large way here at Penn StateBehrend?
Yingxin “Cindy” Wu (05:19):
Ah, so first thing is, I guess, after my
first few years of study abroad,something I did learn is that
you are your best advocate.
Because you know yourself thebest. You know what you need the
most. So, a lot of the times Itend to, when I see something
that I, where I see somethingdifferent, that I feel that
(05:41):
could be better, I tend to getinto a little mode of me just
trying to think of ways ofimprovement, of betterment. And
so to begin to get involved,it's a idea of kind of
socialization to begin with,because it was the year after
COVID, and everyone's kind ofsticking to their rooms for a
(06:02):
while. And so I really wanteveryone to get back to the
environment to socialize, tohave fun again. Even though
we're still have masks on ourfaces. But then, as I am getting
more and more involved, I talkto everyone and I started to
seeing something that could bebetter here on campus. So I
(06:23):
started to get involved in morethings like such as student
government and trying to make achange.
Dr. Ralph Ford (06:34):
I think you had great wisdom there. And we're
going to remember that you areyour best advocate. And that was
a perfect way to say it. So yougot here before COVID. Just your
first year was when COVID hit?
Is that correct?
Yingxin “Cindy” Wu (06:46):
Yes. So I was I had a perfectly normal
fall semester, and then springsemester, after spring break, we
got sent home.
Dr. Ralph Ford (06:57):
Okay, so you've seen it now. You saw the whole
cycle from leaving to the beingapart for a long period of time.
So would you say we recovered interms of student activities and
engagement? Or do we havefurther to go? And I'd be
absolutely honest in thisbecause, you know. What do we
have to do to get the cultureand campus back up to where it
used to be?
Yingxin “Cindy” Wu (07:17):
So when I was a freshman, I was always I
enjoy events very much aspecially early night events
hosted by the Lion EntertainmentBoard. And I had so much fun at
playing and like this wonderful.
And then COVID hit. And Ieventually decided to take it
and kind of revive the LionEntertainment Board (LEB). And
(07:38):
I'm there all the time thatwe're doing events. We're trying
our best to do some creativeideas to get people to come back
out and to do some more things.
Like last year, we brought inbumper cars. Not too long ago,
we did Dippin Dots. And so we'retrying to do a lot of more human
(08:01):
innovative things, to bringpeople back out into campus kind
of draw people out again. Iwould say it's still not exactly
what I saw when I was afreshman. However, I'm seeing a
great increase of attendance atevents of everybody having fun.
(08:23):
So I would say we are doingpretty good and still have a
little bit to go.
Dr. Ralph Ford (08:29):
I think that's a fair assessment. And I would
agree with that. This semester,we've got the opening of the new
Erie Hall, definitely. That'sjust become such a big
centerpiece. You see a lot ofpeople, and I would say with our
student activities, we have toteach some of the students who
came here during COVID, how torun organizations and the like.
And that'll take some time. Butby the way, have you been able
(08:52):
to use Erie Hall?
Yingxin “Cindy” Wu (08:54):
I have. I usually take my tours through
there. And I won't admit thatI'm not a very athletic person.
However, I did have a littletaste of Erie Hall and I think
is fabulous.
Dr. Ralph Ford (09:09):
Well, you don't have to be athletic to go,
right? We've got yoga rooms andall sorts of fun activities
there too. So obviouslyathletics, you know, fitness is
part of it, but we'd find thatpretty broadly.
Yingxin “Cindy” Wu (09:22):
So definitely.
Dr. Ralph Ford (09:24):
Well, let's back up a little bit and talk about
your path to the United States.
How did you end up in Ohio?
Yingxin “Cindy” Wu (09:30):
So my program that I was in, gave me a
little bit of a choice ofbroadly where I can be at. And
lots of options are located inthe East Coast and West Coast.
However, I had a couple of tripsinto the United States to both
of the coasts, and I feel like Ikind of know the culture a
little bit more there, and Iwant something different. So I
(09:54):
just chose Midwest and Behrendwas one of the schools that has
a strong connections and list ofprograms. So they recommended me
there. And I was like, Ok,sounds great. Sounds very
interesting. We'll see how wedeal. So I ended up there.
Dr. Ralph Ford (10:12):
No good for you.
And so what was your firstexperience like in that, quote,
midwest and Ohio.
Yingxin “Cindy” Wu (10:16):
So, um, for my first thing that actually
shocked me when I get over here,is because I feel like
Switzerland is a good year offin between China and here.
Because it's kind of a schoolstyle that's like, in the
middle. Because back home, wedon't walk to class, we stay in
(10:39):
the same room and wait for theteachers to come to us. And we
have hundreds of we're morefocusing classes, we don't do a
whole lot of discussions. Wedon't do a whole, it's more like
academic work. But Switzerlandis kind of like in between. And
I get over here is morediscussion. It's more of
(11:00):
thinking. More like, what's youropinion, what's your thought?
And especially to like tograduate, I have to take
American government ata Catholicschool. I was taking sociology.
And I was like, this is all veryinteresting. And it was like, I
feel like I learned a lot duringthat year.
Dr. Ralph Ford (11:22):
What brought you to Penn State Behrend. How did
you find us?
Yingxin “Cindy” Wu (11:25):
So before I actually came to the States, I
actually wanted to be a computerengineer. And while a lot had
kind of happened in between. AndI'm kind of in the period of
trying to find a new interest,and my high school in Ohio had
this program called the Madtrack. And they introduced me in
(11:47):
a way to nursing. And I waslike, This is awesome. And so I
was graduating and looking for agood nursing school in the area.
I don't want to go really farbecause I have a really nice
host family. And I went onlineon just some searches. And I saw
a video of the nursingsimulation lab over here. And I
(12:10):
was like, This looks amazing.
And putting applications Ieventually came here.
Dr. Ralph Ford (12:15):
I will tell you something about those simulation
labs. And when I watched thesimulations, they scare me. They
scare me and how realistic theyare. There's something a little
bit, you know, too real andabout it. And I'm sure you've
had a lot of experience in oursimulation labs.
Yingxin “Cindy” Wu (12:34):
They are.
Well, we say that what happensin simulation stays in
simulation. So I kind of can'tgive specific examples. But I
will have to say everythingbecause before every simulation,
you will get a prep sheet. Soyou kind of know what a scenario
that you will be walking into.
But sometimes it's still asurprise when you're actually
(12:55):
there. Because it's up to a lotof us. It's either we've never,
for example, seeing a patienthaving a seizure before or we
never actually walk into theroom to be actually the one in
charge of doing things. It'sjust you always have this moment
of kind of blankness in yourmind. That's, it takes a moment
(13:17):
for you to actually realize,okay, what I need to do next.
And after simulation However,while you're actually see that
scenario in the hospital, itdoes help a lot like between
that to get over that reactiontime that you actually need to
be actually starting to dothings.
Dr. Ralph Ford (13:37):
Well, you've coined another term, what
happens in nursing simulationstays in simulation. That's a,
that's a great one. But as youknow, you lead right into my
next my next thought so youstart in simulation, but you end
up doing a significant number ofclinical rotations. And in fact,
you worked at Saint Vincent,UPMC Hamot, St. Mary's. So what
(13:59):
do you do there? See alldifferent areas?
Yingxin “Cindy” Wu (14:02):
Yeah, so um, I had the most amount of
clinical at Saint Vincent,especially in their cardiac
neuro ICU and ICU is indeed myinterest of nursing that I want
to go into. So starting off,it's always more like
observatory because it takes aminute to build a level of trust
(14:22):
with your preceptor and kind offor them to start latching you
to get to know your ability andletting you doing things. So for
me, it took a little bit to dothat. So I did my externship
there and I just finished mypracticum over there. And I had
different preceptors and everydifferent preceptor kind of
(14:43):
teaches you a little bit more ofthe industry. And meanwhile
during my time, because ICUnurses does a lot of tasks,
sometimes on nurses on the flooractually delegates, so I get to
work on my basic nursing skillslevel. Like past skills. And in
the meantime, assessments arealso something that I get to
(15:04):
work on a whole lot. Because wereally do a good job of
monitoring our patient, at leastevery hour, a lot of times is
every 15 minutes, because we'rejust right there. And we're just
watching our patients like ahawk, as one of my preceptor
says. So it's great practiceexperience, and I still can't
(15:28):
believe that I'm actuallygraduating in just two weeks
away.
Dr. Ralph Ford (15:33):
It will be out there. Well, any scary moments
when you're in your clinicalsthat you can speak about?
Yingxin “Cindy” Wu (15:40):
There is actually this happened like
last, well, actually two weeksago. So usually you start your
morning by getting a report fromlast shifts of nurses. And like
this patient is struggling alittle bit of oxygen, but he's
doing fine. He's just his morepriorities. It's like his pain
in the stomach. Okay, fine.
Sounds great. And I walk intothe room, the patient was
(16:03):
complaining a 10 evident pain,so extreme pain, and then his
oxygen status is at 5%. I waslike, Oh, no. First thing in the
morning, it was like 7 a.m. AndI was like, Okay, this is waking
me up really well. And theentire day, me my preceptor, the
nurse, the patient is actuallyassigned to, we're just working
(16:28):
really hard trying to get hisoxygen status up. And
eventually, he has to betransferred into the ICU,
because how much oxygen is thatwe're using trying to help him
that he needs more closermonitoring. But it was a hectic
morning.
Dr. Ralph Ford (16:47):
Well, we know everyone appreciates what nurses
do. And it's so important. Andlet's go back and talk a little
bit about the curriculum. And,you know, one of the things that
we know, and we all talk abouthere on campus is our nursing
students are busy, and they arehard workers. It's a challenging
curriculum, you have clinicals.
So tell us a little bit about,you know, what did you see in
(17:09):
your experience here and yourclasses and the curriculum at
Behrend
Yingxin “Cindy” Wu (17:13):
sounds right. So freshman year, I
started doing some anatomy andphysiology classes, and labs,
and psychology along with somekind of developmental courses,
gives me an idea of I felt likepsychologically when my patient
is actually going through. Andwhich helped me a lot at the
beginning, when I was going intomy sophomore year for my first
(17:36):
clinical. My sophomore year, ourprofessors got really innovative
because it was COVID time. Andthey can't do what they usually
do put us all in a skills laband teaching us all the basic
skills of nursing. So what theyactually did is they sent a lot
of the, it's like a little kitsof like, materials that we need
(17:58):
to buy. And to kind of make ourown training model. I remember
that I have this styrofoam hatthat he can actually get from
Walmart that I used to practiceputting an NG tube into. And I
remember later, during thesophomore year, I was carrying
the head because I had asimulation, I was walking out on
(18:18):
this path on campus, and Iscared someone with that. Like I
didn't do it intentionally, butjust walk by me and you kind of
just suddenly saw us had any.
He's like, startled, like,sorry. But we got a really
innovative and we get topractice. Well, like in normal
time practice putting in an NGtube, putting in our urine
(18:39):
catheters, urinary cathetersinto our patients and sophomore
year, the second half of thesecond semester, we actually get
into nursing homes to beactually doing our clinicals.
And I feel like because at firstis kind of a little bit not
knowing what to do, because thisis actually a patient not some
(19:02):
not like words on the textbookin front of me. So it took me a
while to kind of adapt into it.
And you actually get to takecare of your patient and making
sure that they are okay withtheir daily living kind of
activities are okay brushingtheir teeth to get clean in the
morning, they're getting theirbreakfast. It was a really nice
(19:24):
experience. And we actually dida lot of assessment skills in
the course that was reallyhelpful because in the hospital,
you kind of fill it outdifferently. Whereas in nursing
homes, you actually take thetime to assess and actually put
them in paper on to your recordsin the hospital mainly just
click, click click and theyautomatically give you the
numbers and tells you what elsethat you need to do. And then
(19:47):
junior year we're doing our medsurg versus like general nursing
course. It was a really hardcourse I have to admit. And
there was a period of thesemester I just feels like, no
matter how hard I am saying myit just there's there's has to
be a piece of information therethat I miss. And so it took us a
(20:10):
little bit to adjust the way Iam learning things. I'm taking
notes to be actually morefitting into the course, and is
actually our first real realnursing course. So it was kind
of a hectic semester and itpassed really fast. It along
with like pharmacology andgeriatrics is definitely a
(20:30):
semester that took a lot ofbrain cells. Um, second semester
kind of got a very interestingnow, we actually get to work
with pregnant moms andbabies.And some of our
pediatrics clientele, it wasvery interesting to me, because
(20:50):
different clientele, you kind ofget a different reaction. And
some of the kids are having a,or they can't really tell you
much about their symptoms. Soyou really need to rely really
heavily on your assessmentskills. So it was a good
practice round.
Dr. Ralph Ford (21:05):
you have to take something called the NCLEX exam,
right? Yes. And you take thatthe summer, is that correct?
Yingxin “Cindy” Wu (21:12):
Yes. I'm hoping to take it. So the
earliest usually, oh, we cantake it as around middle of
June.
Dr. Ralph Ford (21:19):
For those who don't know that, is the National
Licensing Exam for RegisteredNurses. Yes, I'm sure you're
going to do great.
Yingxin “Cindy” Wu (21:26):
I think you've Well, first of all, but I
just sometimes feels a littlebit nervous. And yeah, and it
just a lot of information to goover. However, our program does
a really good job to get likeget us prepared, because all of
our exams are on this softwarethat actually mimicking the real
(21:49):
testing scenario of NCLEX. Andour questions because the NCLEX
actually so far. In fact, it'sgetting into a new generations
now called next gen NCLEX. So wehave new question formats and
everything. And this entireyear, our professors adjusting
the questions and actuallygiving us a lot of examples of
(22:10):
the next gen questions. So giveus an idea of what we're facing
in about two months. And I, Imyself was very grateful for
that, because I was kind of it'skind of shocking to me that it
was like, Okay, this is my yearof taking NCLEX. And it's
changing. Yes, we're gonna bethe first year that actually
(22:30):
facing the change, but we'redoing a whole lot to be prepared
for it.
Dr. Ralph Ford (22:34):
And our students generally do very well. So
definitely, let's switch just alittle back to the work you do
in student governmentassociation. You were Chair of
the DEI initiatives committee inprogramming. And, you know, tell
us how you've used your voiceand influence on dei
initiatives.
Yingxin “Cindy” Wu (22:56):
So this is actually my second year holding
this position. During my firstyear, I focused a lot on
promoting kind of a moreculturally acceptive
environments on campus. I didsome cards that actually, I
think of as like a window of howto ask some questions that may
(23:19):
be a little bit difficult toanswer because of cultural
differences or because of,you're not sure of the past
experience and what it actuallymeans to the person that you're
talking to. So I did some carson that. And we did some
cultural events and almosttowards the end of my first year
(23:41):
holding the position. We hadthis problem coming up is the
disability buttons. They are agood resources for our students
with disability because it makesit easier for the doors to open
and for them to get throughcampus. And however they they
have a high breakdown. So kindof failure rate. Yes, yeah. We
(24:05):
did a investigation of kind ofwhy they're malfunctioning and I
get to witness some hostilitytowards the buttons during my
time on campus. So I had thisidea of actually doing a little
sticker to put next to thebuttons. However, like to find
(24:26):
our right material. It took us along time because Erie just
weather is very it's very coldand winter and I kind of don't
want it to be okay we spend somuch time and money on it. And
then in the wintertime it's gonebecause of the weather because
of the cold and so we did a lotof searches initially we had
(24:47):
this idea of doing paper butmaterial kind of sustainability
wise it's just not going to workout and I was kind of frustrated
by it, but fortunately becauseit was the towards the end of
the year. But fortunately, I wasable to hold the position again
my second year. So I kind ofworked on the project all over
again. And we were able toactually find a material. It's a
(25:14):
3d sticker that has multiplelayers. So it kind of gives a
good stack. In the meantime,it's scratch proof that it does
a lot of different things. Andso we started to putting them
around campus and kind oftesting it out some of the
outside in some of the outsidesurfaces is still a little bit
hard for it to stack. But we areseeing some improvement on the
(25:39):
buttons conditions. So that'sfantastic.
Dr. Ralph Ford (25:42):
Well, we appreciate it. And so at least
you're getting some feedbackthat what you're doing is
helping people withdisabilities.
Yingxin “Cindy” Wu (25:48):
Indeed, I didn't realize how, I would say,
how much of a hassle it is toget around campus. From the
perspective of student withdisability until I actually did
a tour with a family. The dad ofthe family is actually on a
electric wheelchair. And Irealized that I need to detour
(26:10):
my tour for at least half anhour to just to find the
additional buttons, theelevators so that everyone can
get around. And at the moment,it was just a moment of me
realizing, okay, I'm actuallydoing something useful. And it's
(26:31):
a rewarding moment.
Dr. Ralph Ford (26:32):
While our campus is built in a hill, completely,
but you know, a lot of the partwe sit in right now just behind
us, you can see that and itpresents a lot of challenges.
And you saw them firsthand. Andyou did something to make it
better.
Yingxin “Cindy” Wu (26:51):
Trying my best.
Dr. Ralph Ford (26:52):
Let's switch gears. You work on the Lion
Entertainment Board. It wasdefunct, and I think you brought
it back to life. Is that true? Ihope that was that was right. So
that was a big endeavor.
Yingxin “Cindy” Wu (27:06):
Indeed, at first it was my junior year or
the year I made the beginning ofmy junior year. I walk into this
event, it was glow in the darkgolf ball. It's like a
glow-in-the-dark mini-golf. Andthere was only two people there.
(27:28):
There was Ashley Kaminski, whichis her first year being on
campus and actually hostingevents. And her night voting
assistant, Sam. And I was like,Do you guys need any help?
Because I just feel really bad.
This is a lot of equipment. Andjust the two of you guys to be
there. And so I kind of startedoff there. And I was just
(27:52):
helping out at events. And acouple of weeks later, Ashley
asked me if I would like to helpher to revive the club. I was
like, sure, it will be a joy todo that. Because I've been to so
many Lion Entertainment Board,events when I was a freshman. I
would. And I would love to seeit to come back to campus. And
(28:12):
so it just happened like that.
And we are here today.
Dr. Ralph Ford (28:19):
So any particular event stand out, you
know, like one bigaccomplishment from that or some
event that came out that sticksin your mind the most.
Yingxin “Cindy” Wu (28:28):
So the first thing always comes to my mind is
pink eel, because that's myfirst literally big events here
at Behrend, and it's my way tokind of meaningful the most to
me. And we're able to bring itback. And we did it in the
baseball field earlier in theyear. And everyone's having a
blast time. You see everyonehaving the T-shirts still
(28:53):
sometimes walking on campus. Soit was wonderful. And we started
to do something new as well. Sothis past two years we are
doing, we did a winter formal,so it's kind of becoming a trip
new traditional or annual winterformal. And we had a lot of
students from different clubsand organizations, they bring in
(29:14):
their friends as well. And wealways have a big blast. We have
a theme every year, the firstyear I think it's it's like
Alice in the winter wonderland,something like that. And the
second semester, we actually didNew York City so we actually use
dark lights and blackeverything. And it was it was a
(29:38):
really nice city-wide, sell. Wetry our best to create a great
theme and environment foreveryone to have a great time.
And that's what we do.
Dr. Ralph Ford (29:49):
Okay, now I'm going to hit you with a few
quick questions. We'll call itthe lightning round.
Yingxin “Cindy” Wu (29:54):
Okay, that's my favorite class nursing. If I
had to pick in nursing a medsurg.
Dr. Ralph Ford (30:02):
Okay, favorite teacher. Let's put you on the
spot. You can name a few?
Yingxin “Cindy” Wu (30:10):
I love Dr.
Streiff. She is the director ofthe program and I also because
of me doing my externship, I hada lot of interaction with her
and I love her so much. And Dr.
Raines, Dr. Raines is actuallyour med surg professor, junior
year and senior year. And she isactually the one gotten me into
(30:30):
ICU Nursing because she actuallyis a critical care nurse. And in
her class, she uses her clinicalexperience. I see samples, what
she's seeing in ICUs. And that'skind of what got me into ICU
nursing.
Dr. Ralph Ford (30:45):
And I, you know, that's a hard question. It's not
fair because all of our nursingfaculty are so caring and great.
So they all deserve to be calledout. So then, how about you?
What's your most memorablemoment on campus? Is there one
thing that stands out to you?
Yingxin “Cindy” Wu (31:01):
Most memorable moment it will have to
be MCC.
Sorry? Multi-Cultural Council.
I love the Multi-CulturalCouncil so much. And one thing
that always sticks in my mind islast year when I when the
superlative off most likely toget ticketed. Thank you very
(31:24):
much. So it's a moment Iremember just laughing non stop
and on my way of getting it andit just a moment sticks in my
mind.
Dr. Ralph Ford (31:35):
Well, MCC is just tremendously active group
and all of their events are highenergy. So not surprising. Well,
what's next for you aftergraduation?
Yingxin “Cindy” Wu (31:47):
So, before this week, I will say for sure
that I am planning on stayingErie and working at UPMC Hamot
as a cardiac critical carenurse. However, I did get some
news this week. So there mightbe some changes to that. We'll
see how it eventually goes.
Dr. Ralph Ford (32:07):
Okay, you don't have to say so there's some what
you're saying saying is you haveopportunities. And that's,
that's a good thing and not notsurprising at all. Okay, what
will you miss it about your timehere at Behrend.
Yingxin “Cindy” Wu (32:20):
I miss the I feel like I will miss the first
of all the close netsrelationship that we actually
have with everyone. And I loveall the support and love from my
advisors, my counselors, mybosses, actually, on campus, and
(32:41):
especially my friends on thecampus, I feel that's definitely
something I will miss the most.
Because just four years here,you're able to build such a good
relationship with everyone. Andit's a little bit sad to think
that I'm actually believing.
Dr. Ralph Ford (32:58):
We are a close-knit community.
Definitely. Well, this has beena wonderful conversation and I
appreciate it. I'm Dr. RalphFord. And thank you for joining
us here on Behrend Talks todayand my guest has been our
nursing students, Cindy Wu,senior nursing student who's
graduating and just two weeksfrom now. Congratulations.
Yingxin “Cindy” Wu (33:18):
Thank you very much. Thank you.
Dr. Ralph Ford (33:20):
You're welcome.
Hi, I'm Dr.
(00:00):
Ralph Ford, Chancellor of PennState Behrend and you are
(00:02):
listening to Behrend Talks. Myguest today is Cindy Wu, a
senior nursing student here atBehrend and the winner of the
2023 Ralph Dorn Hetzel MemorialAward, which recognizes
scholastic achievement, goodcitizenship and participation,
and leadership and studentactivities. And it's a big time
(00:22):
award. So congratulations onreceiving that, Cindy, and
welcome to the show.
Yingxin “Cindy” Wu (00:28):
Thank you very much. Thanks for having me.
Dr. Ralph Ford (00:30):
Well, it's a pleasure to have you here. And
before we get into thediscussion, I'm going to give a
little bit more background aboutyou. You are an international
student originally from China.
You serve as our Diversity,Equity and Inclusion chair for
the Behrend Student GovernmentAssociation. You are president
of the Lion Entertainment Board,which organizes events for
students and has worked with theSouth Asian student organization
(00:52):
and the Global Eats program. Youwere a Lion Scout for our
admissions office, and a memberof the Multi-Cultural Council
and an assistant in theInternational Student Service
Office. You do a lot here. Butthere's just even a little more
for me to go through. And thisis all a good thing. You're
always a happy face to see hereon campus. You're involved in
(01:14):
everything but you raise money.
This is really significantfourth on this year, are well
known time running 12 miles andbiking 45 miles during the two
day show. So again, welcome hereto Behrend Talks.
Thank you.
An impressive list ofaccomplishments. But let's start
with a little bit, you know,about your background. You're a
graduate of Petawawa FranciscanHigh School, and that's over in
(01:36):
Parma, Ohio. Not all that faraway. But what's interesting is
that before that you studied inSwitzerland and Beijing. So
you've moved a lot of places inthe world. And, at least from my
experience, and observing youand working with you. And while
you're here at Behrend seem tothrive on these new experiences,
(01:56):
so just tell us a little bitabout moving around the world
Yingxin “Cindy” Wu (01:59):
Oh, so I started off studying abroad in
and how you got here.
Switzerland, the German speakingpart. And it was a different
experience, I have to say, thanthe high school that I went to
back home, and it took me alittle bit to adjust and to say
also keeping up with gradesbecause I don't know German at
(02:19):
all, when I decided to studyabroad. So figuring out language
and getting to know the country,the culture a little bit, it
took me a couple, a couple ofmonths. However, on the other
hand, I have a very supportivehost family. And they helped me
a lot during the process. And wehad a lot of fun. So after my
(02:42):
year of studying abroad, becauseI was enrolled in a public
exchange student program. So therule is like, you can stay in
one country for a year, however,the next year, you have to
switch countries. So originally,I was going to friends, I'm not
gonna lie, but um, you wantedFrance. I kind of loving the
(03:05):
culture a little bit after myyear in Switzerland. And then
there was an incident in I thinkit was like in front of the
French Parliament, a bridgesomewhere. And my mom's like,
you are not going, like I fillout all applications. She's
like, No, you're not going. Andso I kind of made a last minute
(03:27):
decision to look into theprograms that still open was in
the little program that I'm in.
And I came here.
Dr. Ralph Ford (03:36):
No. Well, you know, tell us a little bit
though, did you? Did you learnGerman while you were in
Switzerland? You said it was astruggle. But did you pick up
any German? Or could you make itthrough with enough English?
Yingxin “Cindy” Wu (03:47):
I definitely had to pick up German. Well, it
was it was fun, definitelystudying another language
because I feel like in otherlanguages, always a different
way of thinking and alsoblending in with different
culture perspective. So likeGerman, the sentence structure
is very fixated. You have to putverb on the second place.
Dr. Ralph Ford (04:11):
So it kind of gives you a little window into
the culture andeverybody'sthought process and
their thinking behind it. Andyou end up with these words and
sentences that are very, verylong. What let's talk though,
did you make friends? Were youable to build connections while
Yingxin “Cindy” Wu (04:27):
I did. My entire class was very flexible
you were there.
and very accepting. Not sure ifthat's the right word accepting.
Absolutely. Yeah. And it was areally nice experience. I
decided during my years socialand I decided to take this kind
of advanced level of math class,and I was we're just having fun
(04:51):
with some spheres with somecalculations, and I just really
loved hanging out with my group.
Dr. Ralph Ford (04:57):
And yeah, when you really act. If you're on
campus, as I said earlier, apresence that we often see here,
and I think, you know, presenceis the right word. And you've
become extremely active inextracurricular activities,
student leadership, why did yougravitate towards this in such a
large way here at Penn StateBehrend?
Yingxin “Cindy” Wu (05:19):
Ah, so first thing is, I guess, after my
first few years of study abroad,something I did learn is that
you are your best advocate.
Because you know yourself thebest. You know what you need the
most. So, a lot of the times Itend to, when I see something
that I, where I see somethingdifferent, that I feel that
(05:41):
could be better, I tend to getinto a little mode of me just
trying to think of ways ofimprovement, of betterment. And
so to begin to get involved,it's a idea of kind of
socialization to begin with,because it was the year after
COVID, and everyone's kind ofsticking to their rooms for a
(06:02):
while. And so I really wanteveryone to get back to the
environment to socialize, tohave fun again. Even though
we're still have masks on ourfaces. But then, as I am getting
more and more involved, I talkto everyone and I started to
seeing something that could bebetter here on campus. So I
(06:23):
started to get involved in morethings like such as student
government and trying to make achange.
Dr. Ralph Ford (06:34):
I think you had great wisdom there. And we're
going to remember that you areyour best advocate. And that was
a perfect way to say it. So yougot here before COVID. Just your
first year was when COVID hit?
Is that correct?
Yingxin “Cindy” Wu (06:46):
Yes. So I was I had a perfectly normal
fall semester, and then springsemester, after spring break, we
got sent home.
Dr. Ralph Ford (06:57):
Okay, so you've seen it now. You saw the whole
cycle from leaving to the beingapart for a long period of time.
So would you say we recovered interms of student activities and
engagement? Or do we havefurther to go? And I'd be
absolutely honest in thisbecause, you know. What do we
have to do to get the cultureand campus back up to where it
used to be?
Yingxin “Cindy” Wu (07:17):
So when I was a freshman, I was always I
enjoy events very much aspecially early night events
hosted by the Lion EntertainmentBoard. And I had so much fun at
playing and like this wonderful.
And then COVID hit. And Ieventually decided to take it
and kind of revive the LionEntertainment Board (LEB). And
(07:38):
I'm there all the time thatwe're doing events. We're trying
our best to do some creativeideas to get people to come back
out and to do some more things.
Like last year, we brought inbumper cars. Not too long ago,
we did Dippin Dots. And so we'retrying to do a lot of more human
(08:01):
innovative things, to bringpeople back out into campus kind
of draw people out again. Iwould say it's still not exactly
what I saw when I was afreshman. However, I'm seeing a
great increase of attendance atevents of everybody having fun.
(08:23):
So I would say we are doingpretty good and still have a
little bit to go.
Dr. Ralph Ford (08:29):
I think that's a fair assessment. And I would
agree with that. This semester,we've got the opening of the new
Erie Hall, definitely. That'sjust become such a big
centerpiece. You see a lot ofpeople, and I would say with our
student activities, we have toteach some of the students who
came here during COVID, how torun organizations and the like.
And that'll take some time. Butby the way, have you been able
(08:52):
to use Erie Hall?
Yingxin “Cindy” Wu (08:54):
I have. I usually take my tours through
there. And I won't admit thatI'm not a very athletic person.
However, I did have a littletaste of Erie Hall and I think
is fabulous.
Dr. Ralph Ford (09:09):
Well, you don't have to be athletic to go,
right? We've got yoga rooms andall sorts of fun activities
there too. So obviouslyathletics, you know, fitness is
part of it, but we'd find thatpretty broadly.
Yingxin “Cindy” Wu (09:22):
So definitely.
Dr. Ralph Ford (09:24):
Well, let's back up a little bit and talk about
your path to the United States.
How did you end up in Ohio?
Yingxin “Cindy” Wu (09:30):
So my program that I was in, gave me a
little bit of a choice ofbroadly where I can be at. And
lots of options are located inthe East Coast and West Coast.
However, I had a couple of tripsinto the United States to both
of the coasts, and I feel like Ikind of know the culture a
little bit more there, and Iwant something different. So I
(09:54):
just chose Midwest and Behrendwas one of the schools that has
a strong connections and list ofprograms. So they recommended me
there. And I was like, Ok,sounds great. Sounds very
interesting. We'll see how wedeal. So I ended up there.
Dr. Ralph Ford (10:12):
No good for you.
And so what was your firstexperience like in that, quote,
midwest and Ohio.
Yingxin “Cindy” Wu (10:16):
So, um, for my first thing that actually
shocked me when I get over here,is because I feel like
Switzerland is a good year offin between China and here.
Because it's kind of a schoolstyle that's like, in the
middle. Because back home, wedon't walk to class, we stay in
(10:39):
the same room and wait for theteachers to come to us. And we
have hundreds of we're morefocusing classes, we don't do a
whole lot of discussions. Wedon't do a whole, it's more like
academic work. But Switzerlandis kind of like in between. And
I get over here is morediscussion. It's more of
(11:00):
thinking. More like, what's youropinion, what's your thought?
And especially to like tograduate, I have to take
American government ata Catholicschool. I was taking sociology.
And I was like, this is all veryinteresting. And it was like, I
feel like I learned a lot duringthat year.
Dr. Ralph Ford (11:22):
What brought you to Penn State Behrend. How did
you find us?
Yingxin “Cindy” Wu (11:25):
So before I actually came to the States, I
actually wanted to be a computerengineer. And while a lot had
kind of happened in between. AndI'm kind of in the period of
trying to find a new interest,and my high school in Ohio had
this program called the Madtrack. And they introduced me in
(11:47):
a way to nursing. And I waslike, This is awesome. And so I
was graduating and looking for agood nursing school in the area.
I don't want to go really farbecause I have a really nice
host family. And I went onlineon just some searches. And I saw
a video of the nursingsimulation lab over here. And I
(12:10):
was like, This looks amazing.
And putting applications Ieventually came here.
Dr. Ralph Ford (12:15):
I will tell you something about those simulation
labs. And when I watched thesimulations, they scare me. They
scare me and how realistic theyare. There's something a little
bit, you know, too real andabout it. And I'm sure you've
had a lot of experience in oursimulation labs.
Yingxin “Cindy” Wu (12:34):
They are.
Well, we say that what happensin simulation stays in
simulation. So I kind of can'tgive specific examples. But I
will have to say everythingbecause before every simulation,
you will get a prep sheet. Soyou kind of know what a scenario
that you will be walking into.
But sometimes it's still asurprise when you're actually
(12:55):
there. Because it's up to a lotof us. It's either we've never,
for example, seeing a patienthaving a seizure before or we
never actually walk into theroom to be actually the one in
charge of doing things. It'sjust you always have this moment
of kind of blankness in yourmind. That's, it takes a moment
(13:17):
for you to actually realize,okay, what I need to do next.
And after simulation However,while you're actually see that
scenario in the hospital, itdoes help a lot like between
that to get over that reactiontime that you actually need to
be actually starting to dothings.
Dr. Ralph Ford (13:37):
Well, you've coined another term, what
happens in nursing simulationstays in simulation. That's a,
that's a great one. But as youknow, you lead right into my
next my next thought so youstart in simulation, but you end
up doing a significant number ofclinical rotations. And in fact,
you worked at Saint Vincent,UPMC Hamot, St. Mary's. So what
(13:59):
do you do there? See alldifferent areas?
Yingxin “Cindy” Wu (14:02):
Yeah, so um, I had the most amount of
clinical at Saint Vincent,especially in their cardiac
neuro ICU and ICU is indeed myinterest of nursing that I want
to go into. So starting off,it's always more like
observatory because it takes aminute to build a level of trust
(14:22):
with your preceptor and kind offor them to start latching you
to get to know your ability andletting you doing things. So for
me, it took a little bit to dothat. So I did my externship
there and I just finished mypracticum over there. And I had
different preceptors and everydifferent preceptor kind of
(14:43):
teaches you a little bit more ofthe industry. And meanwhile
during my time, because ICUnurses does a lot of tasks,
sometimes on nurses on the flooractually delegates, so I get to
work on my basic nursing skillslevel. Like past skills. And in
the meantime, assessments arealso something that I get to
(15:04):
work on a whole lot. Because wereally do a good job of
monitoring our patient, at leastevery hour, a lot of times is
every 15 minutes, because we'rejust right there. And we're just
watching our patients like ahawk, as one of my preceptor
says. So it's great practiceexperience, and I still can't
(15:28):
believe that I'm actuallygraduating in just two weeks
away.
Dr. Ralph Ford (15:33):
It will be out there. Well, any scary moments
when you're in your clinicalsthat you can speak about?
Yingxin “Cindy” Wu (15:40):
There is actually this happened like
last, well, actually two weeksago. So usually you start your
morning by getting a report fromlast shifts of nurses. And like
this patient is struggling alittle bit of oxygen, but he's
doing fine. He's just his morepriorities. It's like his pain
in the stomach. Okay, fine.
Sounds great. And I walk intothe room, the patient was
(16:03):
complaining a 10 evident pain,so extreme pain, and then his
oxygen status is at 5%. I waslike, Oh, no. First thing in the
morning, it was like 7 a.m. AndI was like, Okay, this is waking
me up really well. And theentire day, me my preceptor, the
nurse, the patient is actuallyassigned to, we're just working
(16:28):
really hard trying to get hisoxygen status up. And
eventually, he has to betransferred into the ICU,
because how much oxygen is thatwe're using trying to help him
that he needs more closermonitoring. But it was a hectic
morning.
Dr. Ralph Ford (16:47):
Well, we know everyone appreciates what nurses
do. And it's so important. Andlet's go back and talk a little
bit about the curriculum. And,you know, one of the things that
we know, and we all talk abouthere on campus is our nursing
students are busy, and they arehard workers. It's a challenging
curriculum, you have clinicals.
So tell us a little bit about,you know, what did you see in
(17:09):
your experience here and yourclasses and the curriculum at
Behrend
Yingxin “Cindy” Wu (17:13):
sounds right. So freshman year, I
started doing some anatomy andphysiology classes, and labs,
and psychology along with somekind of developmental courses,
gives me an idea of I felt likepsychologically when my patient
is actually going through. Andwhich helped me a lot at the
beginning, when I was going intomy sophomore year for my first
(17:36):
clinical. My sophomore year, ourprofessors got really innovative
because it was COVID time. Andthey can't do what they usually
do put us all in a skills laband teaching us all the basic
skills of nursing. So what theyactually did is they sent a lot
of the, it's like a little kitsof like, materials that we need
(17:58):
to buy. And to kind of make ourown training model. I remember
that I have this styrofoam hatthat he can actually get from
Walmart that I used to practiceputting an NG tube into. And I
remember later, during thesophomore year, I was carrying
the head because I had asimulation, I was walking out on
(18:18):
this path on campus, and Iscared someone with that. Like I
didn't do it intentionally, butjust walk by me and you kind of
just suddenly saw us had any.
He's like, startled, like,sorry. But we got a really
innovative and we get topractice. Well, like in normal
time practice putting in an NGtube, putting in our urine
(18:39):
catheters, urinary cathetersinto our patients and sophomore
year, the second half of thesecond semester, we actually get
into nursing homes to beactually doing our clinicals.
And I feel like because at firstis kind of a little bit not
knowing what to do, because thisis actually a patient not some
(19:02):
not like words on the textbookin front of me. So it took me a
while to kind of adapt into it.
And you actually get to takecare of your patient and making
sure that they are okay withtheir daily living kind of
activities are okay brushingtheir teeth to get clean in the
morning, they're getting theirbreakfast. It was a really nice
(19:24):
experience. And we actually dida lot of assessment skills in
the course that was reallyhelpful because in the hospital,
you kind of fill it outdifferently. Whereas in nursing
homes, you actually take thetime to assess and actually put
them in paper on to your recordsin the hospital mainly just
click, click click and theyautomatically give you the
numbers and tells you what elsethat you need to do. And then
(19:47):
junior year we're doing our medsurg versus like general nursing
course. It was a really hardcourse I have to admit. And
there was a period of thesemester I just feels like, no
matter how hard I am saying myit just there's there's has to
be a piece of information therethat I miss. And so it took us a
(20:10):
little bit to adjust the way Iam learning things. I'm taking
notes to be actually morefitting into the course, and is
actually our first real realnursing course. So it was kind
of a hectic semester and itpassed really fast. It along
with like pharmacology andgeriatrics is definitely a
(20:30):
semester that took a lot ofbrain cells. Um, second semester
kind of got a very interestingnow, we actually get to work
with pregnant moms andbabies.And some of our
pediatrics clientele, it wasvery interesting to me, because
(20:50):
different clientele, you kind ofget a different reaction. And
some of the kids are having a,or they can't really tell you
much about their symptoms. Soyou really need to rely really
heavily on your assessmentskills. So it was a good
practice round.
Dr. Ralph Ford (21:05):
you have to take something called the NCLEX exam,
right? Yes. And you take thatthe summer, is that correct?
Yingxin “Cindy” Wu (21:12):
Yes. I'm hoping to take it. So the
earliest usually, oh, we cantake it as around middle of
June.
Dr. Ralph Ford (21:19):
For those who don't know that, is the National
Licensing Exam for RegisteredNurses. Yes, I'm sure you're
going to do great.
Yingxin “Cindy” Wu (21:26):
I think you've Well, first of all, but I
just sometimes feels a littlebit nervous. And yeah, and it
just a lot of information to goover. However, our program does
a really good job to get likeget us prepared, because all of
our exams are on this softwarethat actually mimicking the real
(21:49):
testing scenario of NCLEX. Andour questions because the NCLEX
actually so far. In fact, it'sgetting into a new generations
now called next gen NCLEX. So wehave new question formats and
everything. And this entireyear, our professors adjusting
the questions and actuallygiving us a lot of examples of
(22:10):
the next gen questions. So giveus an idea of what we're facing
in about two months. And I, Imyself was very grateful for
that, because I was kind of it'skind of shocking to me that it
was like, Okay, this is my yearof taking NCLEX. And it's
changing. Yes, we're gonna bethe first year that actually
(22:30):
facing the change, but we'redoing a whole lot to be prepared
for it.
Dr. Ralph Ford (22:34):
And our students generally do very well. So
definitely, let's switch just alittle back to the work you do
in student governmentassociation. You were Chair of
the DEI initiatives committee inprogramming. And, you know, tell
us how you've used your voiceand influence on dei
initiatives.
Yingxin “Cindy” Wu (22:56):
So this is actually my second year holding
this position. During my firstyear, I focused a lot on
promoting kind of a moreculturally acceptive
environments on campus. I didsome cards that actually, I
think of as like a window of howto ask some questions that may
(23:19):
be a little bit difficult toanswer because of cultural
differences or because of,you're not sure of the past
experience and what it actuallymeans to the person that you're
talking to. So I did some carson that. And we did some
cultural events and almosttowards the end of my first year
(23:41):
holding the position. We hadthis problem coming up is the
disability buttons. They are agood resources for our students
with disability because it makesit easier for the doors to open
and for them to get throughcampus. And however they they
have a high breakdown. So kindof failure rate. Yes, yeah. We
(24:05):
did a investigation of kind ofwhy they're malfunctioning and I
get to witness some hostilitytowards the buttons during my
time on campus. So I had thisidea of actually doing a little
sticker to put next to thebuttons. However, like to find
(24:26):
our right material. It took us along time because Erie just
weather is very it's very coldand winter and I kind of don't
want it to be okay we spend somuch time and money on it. And
then in the wintertime it's gonebecause of the weather because
of the cold and so we did a lotof searches initially we had
(24:47):
this idea of doing paper butmaterial kind of sustainability
wise it's just not going to workout and I was kind of frustrated
by it, but fortunately becauseit was the towards the end of
the year. But fortunately, I wasable to hold the position again
my second year. So I kind ofworked on the project all over
again. And we were able toactually find a material. It's a
(25:14):
3d sticker that has multiplelayers. So it kind of gives a
good stack. In the meantime,it's scratch proof that it does
a lot of different things. Andso we started to putting them
around campus and kind oftesting it out some of the
outside in some of the outsidesurfaces is still a little bit
hard for it to stack. But we areseeing some improvement on the
(25:39):
buttons conditions. So that'sfantastic.
Dr. Ralph Ford (25:42):
Well, we appreciate it. And so at least
you're getting some feedbackthat what you're doing is
helping people withdisabilities.
Yingxin “Cindy” Wu (25:48):
Indeed, I didn't realize how, I would say,
how much of a hassle it is toget around campus. From the
perspective of student withdisability until I actually did
a tour with a family. The dad ofthe family is actually on a
electric wheelchair. And Irealized that I need to detour
(26:10):
my tour for at least half anhour to just to find the
additional buttons, theelevators so that everyone can
get around. And at the moment,it was just a moment of me
realizing, okay, I'm actuallydoing something useful. And it's
(26:31):
a rewarding moment.
Dr. Ralph Ford (26:32):
While our campus is built in a hill, completely,
but you know, a lot of the partwe sit in right now just behind
us, you can see that and itpresents a lot of challenges.
And you saw them firsthand. Andyou did something to make it
better.
Yingxin “Cindy” Wu (26:51):
Trying my best.
Dr. Ralph Ford (26:52):
Let's switch gears. You work on the Lion
Entertainment Board. It wasdefunct, and I think you brought
it back to life. Is that true? Ihope that was that was right. So
that was a big endeavor.
Yingxin “Cindy” Wu (27:06):
Indeed, at first it was my junior year or
the year I made the beginning ofmy junior year. I walk into this
event, it was glow in the darkgolf ball. It's like a
glow-in-the-dark mini-golf. Andthere was only two people there.
(27:28):
There was Ashley Kaminski, whichis her first year being on
campus and actually hostingevents. And her night voting
assistant, Sam. And I was like,Do you guys need any help?
Because I just feel really bad.
This is a lot of equipment. Andjust the two of you guys to be
there. And so I kind of startedoff there. And I was just
(27:52):
helping out at events. And acouple of weeks later, Ashley
asked me if I would like to helpher to revive the club. I was
like, sure, it will be a joy todo that. Because I've been to so
many Lion Entertainment Board,events when I was a freshman. I
would. And I would love to seeit to come back to campus. And
(28:12):
so it just happened like that.
And we are here today.
Dr. Ralph Ford (28:19):
So any particular event stand out, you
know, like one bigaccomplishment from that or some
event that came out that sticksin your mind the most.
Yingxin “Cindy” Wu (28:28):
So the first thing always comes to my mind is
pink eel, because that's myfirst literally big events here
at Behrend, and it's my way tokind of meaningful the most to
me. And we're able to bring itback. And we did it in the
baseball field earlier in theyear. And everyone's having a
blast time. You see everyonehaving the T-shirts still
(28:53):
sometimes walking on campus. Soit was wonderful. And we started
to do something new as well. Sothis past two years we are
doing, we did a winter formal,so it's kind of becoming a trip
new traditional or annual winterformal. And we had a lot of
students from different clubsand organizations, they bring in
(29:14):
their friends as well. And wealways have a big blast. We have
a theme every year, the firstyear I think it's it's like
Alice in the winter wonderland,something like that. And the
second semester, we actually didNew York City so we actually use
dark lights and blackeverything. And it was it was a
(29:38):
really nice city-wide, sell. Wetry our best to create a great
theme and environment foreveryone to have a great time.
And that's what we do.
Dr. Ralph Ford (29:49):
Okay, now I'm going to hit you with a few
quick questions. We'll call itthe lightning round.
Yingxin “Cindy” Wu (29:54):
Okay, that's my favorite class nursing. If I
had to pick in nursing a medsurg.
Dr. Ralph Ford (30:02):
Okay, favorite teacher. Let's put you on the
spot. You can name a few?
Yingxin “Cindy” Wu (30:10):
I love Dr.
Streiff. She is the director ofthe program and I also because
of me doing my externship, I hada lot of interaction with her
and I love her so much. And Dr.
Raines, Dr. Raines is actuallyour med surg professor, junior
year and senior year. And she isactually the one gotten me into
(30:30):
ICU Nursing because she actuallyis a critical care nurse. And in
her class, she uses her clinicalexperience. I see samples, what
she's seeing in ICUs. And that'skind of what got me into ICU
nursing.
Dr. Ralph Ford (30:45):
And I, you know, that's a hard question. It's not
fair because all of our nursingfaculty are so caring and great.
So they all deserve to be calledout. So then, how about you?
What's your most memorablemoment on campus? Is there one
thing that stands out to you?
Yingxin “Cindy” Wu (31:01):
Most memorable moment it will have to
be MCC.
Sorry? Multi-Cultural Council.
I love the Multi-CulturalCouncil so much. And one thing
that always sticks in my mind islast year when I when the
superlative off most likely toget ticketed. Thank you very
(31:24):
much. So it's a moment Iremember just laughing non stop
and on my way of getting it andit just a moment sticks in my
mind.
Dr. Ralph Ford (31:35):
Well, MCC is just tremendously active group
and all of their events are highenergy. So not surprising. Well,
what's next for you aftergraduation?
Yingxin “Cindy” Wu (31:47):
So, before this week, I will say for sure
that I am planning on stayingErie and working at UPMC Hamot
as a cardiac critical carenurse. However, I did get some
news this week. So there mightbe some changes to that. We'll
see how it eventually goes.
Dr. Ralph Ford (32:07):
Okay, you don't have to say so there's some what
you're saying saying is you haveopportunities. And that's,
that's a good thing and not notsurprising at all. Okay, what
will you miss it about your timehere at Behrend.
Yingxin “Cindy” Wu (32:20):
I miss the I feel like I will miss the first
of all the close netsrelationship that we actually
have with everyone. And I loveall the support and love from my
advisors, my counselors, mybosses, actually, on campus, and
(32:41):
especially my friends on thecampus, I feel that's definitely
something I will miss the most.
Because just four years here,you're able to build such a good
relationship with everyone. Andit's a little bit sad to think
that I'm actually believing.
Dr. Ralph Ford (32:58):
We are a close-knit community.
Definitely. Well, this has beena wonderful conversation and I
appreciate it. I'm Dr. RalphFord. And thank you for joining
us here on Behrend Talks todayand my guest has been our
nursing students, Cindy Wu,senior nursing student who's
graduating and just two weeksfrom now. Congratulations.
Yingxin “Cindy” Wu (33:18):
Thank you very much. Thank you.
Dr. Ralph Ford (33:20):
You're welcome.
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