Joeanna Novak

UConn School of Nursing, Class of 2019

I was born and raised in Groton, Connecticut, and am currently working towards obtaining a Bachelor of Science degree in Nursing at the University of Connecticut.

I have volunteered extensively at UConn with the campus’s American Red Cross Club. The Red Cross Club meets biweekly to organize monthly blood drives. In the week prior to the blood drive, the Club encourage as many students as possible to donate blood, involving the student body as a whole in the healthcare process. In addition to volunteering, I am a Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) at the Mansfield Center for Nursing and Rehabilitation. My responsibilities include identifying resident needs, providing assistance with activities of daily living, and working as part of a team.

Through the Urban Service Track, I hope to gain a better understanding of the underserved communities around me in order to better serve them. My experiences with UST will help me broaden the field of my nursing activity to include outreach projects which I can take a hand in planning and implementing. One such project would be one that connects individuals from better-served areas to those from underserved areas, to their mutual health benefit. I also sought involvement in UST for the volunteer opportunities the program provides. I look forward to participating in the many unique community events the UST organizes. Through such hands-on volunteering and learning, I know that I can be become a potent, beneficial advocate and practitioner of healthcare in my future community.