Student Profile: Chelsy Sullivan
From “baby of the family” to country girl to pageantry to Miss UCA to competing in Miss Arkansas to chiropractic assistant, Chelsy Sullivan has finally found her place in life. It is to serve others through health care as a labor and delivery nurse.
Chelsy has tried on lots of hats, and even a few crowns, throughout her life, trying to find the right fit. It is evident when you meet her that she has a genuine love for others, a kindness that warms the room, and a heart full of compassion for those in need. She finally discovered health care is her calling.
Chelsy is a daughter, sister, granddaughter, cousin, and friend. However, the role she loves the most is being a wife to her husband and mother to her children. She has a loving and supportive family that includes all the extensions and have all played a part in helping her be successful in nursing school.
After a season of her life where she was involved in pageants, she then completed college at UCA with a bachelor’s degree in kinesiology with an emphasis in exercise science. She worked as an assistant to a chiropractor for six years when she began to feel a tug at her heart saying, “I have something more for you.”
Chelsy sought the Lord through prayer and the counsel of those she trusted and came to the realization she wanted to be a nurse, specifically in labor and delivery. Why, you ask? Because in her words, “I wanted to be the nurse that I had when I had my children.”
All of Chelsy’s endeavors have played a part to get her to the place she is today. First off, she will tell you without her family (husband, children, parents, siblings, grandmother, aunts, uncles, cousins, and all) she would not have made it through nursing school. For her, it truly was “Team Chelsy.”
Her time in pageants, Miss Teen Arkansas, Miss UCA, and Miss Arkansas taught her how to present herself, how to communicate well, and most importantly how to keep smiling when things got tough. Her time as a chiropractic assistant taught her about working directly with patients and how to show compassionate care. Chelsy has made it a point to take every situation as an opportunity to learn and grow. And in every situation, she gives thanks and shows genuine humility to others.
Chelsy graduated from BHCLR on Dec. 11 and has plans to take her licensure exam as soon as possible so she can “get to work taking care of mommas and babies.” Chelsy has tried on many hats in her young life and now she is ready to turn in her crowns and take on the privilege of being an L&D nurse at BHMC-Little Rock. Look for her. She’ll be the one with the big smile.
