Have you heard this one? An advice columnist, an opera singer, and a Girl Scout walk into Yale School of Nursing (YSN). Punchline: they all serve as Orientation Leaders (OLs) for the incoming class of Yale nurses and midwives.
This group represents the wide range of experience YSN students bring to the school, many of whom arrive with stronger liberal arts sensibilities than healthcare skills. At this stage in their nursing careers, the OLs have vivid memories of an intense program and are eager to share their pro tips.
The OLs are guiding the new class through Orientation Week (August 22-26), a slate of programming that includes sessions on study skills, tours of Yale’s main campus, and Graduate Entry Prespecialty in Nursing (GEPN) pearls of wisdom.
They also have lots to say about themselves, what they love about YSN, and their favorite places to relax and recharge in Connecticut.
Vanessa Acosta ’24 MSN – Psychiatric Mental Health Specialty
Hometown: Lawrence, Massachusetts
Fun Fact About Me: I was named after Vanessa Williams.
What I Love About YSN: It’s full of talented, passionate, and lovely people.
Connecticut Recommendation: Te Amo Tequila Bar & Tacos has a great happy hour, great food, and great music: what else can you ask for?!
Additional YSN Involvement: I was a GEPN liaison last year, and this year will be helping out as a Teaching Assistant.
Zoe Che ’24 MSN – Adult/Gerontology Acute Care Specialty
Hometown: Chicago, Illinois
Fun Fact About Me: You can see me as an extra on the television show Chicago Med!
What I Love About YSN: There is always a friendly face around the corner or a corner to hide in!
Connecticut Recommendation: Going to the beach with my classmates; it’s the only way I can relax.
Additional YSN Involvement: Acute Care Specialty Representative.
Anastasia Eberhardt ’23 MSN, ’23 MPH, BSN, RN, CCRN – Adult/Gerontology Acute Care Specialty and Registered Nurse (RN) – Entry OL
Hometown: Austin, TX
Fun Fact About Me: This summer I worked as a summer camp nurse in Vermont.
What I Love About YSN: It’s a small specialty program featuring great individualized contact with professors and other peers. I love YSN’s ambitious students, always striving to make YSN, Yale, and the world a better place.
Connecticut Recommendation: I enjoy hiking the state parks and thrifting in the small Connecticut towns.
Additional YSN Involvement: This year I will be Vice President of Social Events with Student Government Organization (SGO) and Acute Care Department Representative. Last year I was a Senator representing YSN in the Graduate and Professional Student Senate (GPSS).
Kris Edwards ’24 MSN – Pediatric NP Primary Care Specialty
Hometown: Woodbridge, CT via Japan
Fun Fact About Me: I’ve climbed Mount Fuji twice. They say you are crazy if you climb it more than once!
What I Love About YSN: The unique and diverse perspectives all my classmates bring to class discussions.
Connecticut Recommendation: The best New Haven pizza is at BAR (it’s not burnt!) and area hiking trails.
Additional YSN Involvement: GEPN class liaison.
Molly Flynn ’24 MSN – Pediatric NP Primary Care Specialty
Hometown: New Canaan, CT
Fun Fact About Me: I’ve never attended a bar trivia night.
What I Love About YSN: My cohort, no contest. Hands down, some of the greatest people I’ve ever met and had the pleasure to learn from.
Connecticut Recommendation: Historically, as in since I was a lil CT beansprout, the jellyfish room at the Norwalk Maritime Aquarium has been my favorite place to lose myself. Wild ambient music and endless, peacefully floating jellyfish. Koffee? and Booktrader in New Haven are both fantastic in terms of local coffee spots. And this summer, a lot of folks in my cohort that stayed in the area have been loving Morris Cove Beach and Lighthouse Point. As we head toward fall, the hikes and accompanying foliage will be spectacular.
Additional YSN Involvement: This year I will be a Teaching Assistant for the Health Assessment and Pediatric classes!
Bar Hass ’24 MSN – Family Nurse Practitioner Specialty
Hometown: Beit Hanan, Israel
Fun Fact About Me: I coached middle school girls’ basketball, and the team would get amped up for the games by playing “Sorry” by Beyonce.
What I Love About YSN: My peers’ kindness and wealth of knowledge and the professors’ commitment to our education
Connecticut Recommendation: Trinity has the best wings in the city, and Sophie (my pupper) enjoys walking and swimming on the beaches.
Additional YSN Involvement: GEPN Liaison, FNP Representative, Simulation TA, Academic and Curriculum committee member.
Abby Jones ’24 MSN – Adult/Gerontology Acute Care Specialty
Hometown: Kennesaw, GA
Fun Fact About Me: I ran an anonymous advice column called “Ask Agatha” for my high school newspaper.
What I Love About YSN: Laughing with my classmates; Leslie Brantley, our amazing security guard; the Annie Goodrich Ball; YSN creative writing; and when Heidi the service dog comes to visit.
Connecticut Recommendation: P&M Orange Street Market in New Haven and the Morris Cove shoreline neighborhood.
Additional YSN Involvement: Health Assessment Teaching Assistant.
Madisen Panagoulias ’24 MSN – Pediatric NP Primary Care Specialty
Hometown: Guilford, CT
Fun Fact About Me: I love coaching gymnastics in my free time!
What I Love About YSN: I have loved getting to know all our classmates! I have learned so much from everyone and have met people who I know will be lifelong friends.
Connecticut Recommendation: Archie Moore’s (especially their wings!), hikes at Sleeping Giant in Hamden, and P&M Orange Street Market.
Additional YSN Involvement: Teaching Assistant
Sara Quiñones ’24 MSN – Psychiatric Mental Health Specialty
Hometown: Flower Mound, Texas (just outside of Dallas)
Fun Fact About Me: I am a lifetime Girl Scouts member. I even did my Bronze Award making blankets for babies in the NICU!
What I Love About YSN: I love how supportive my cohort and our professors were throughout the stressors of GEPN year, and I definitely have made some amazing friends because of this. Remember—it truly takes a village!
Connecticut Recommendation: When I am not in school, you can usually catch me grabbing a coffee or attending events at Gather East Rock.
Additional YSN Involvement: I am interested in starting a club for Latinx/Hispanic people, so anyone who is interested is welcome to reach out to me!
Abbey Riddle ’24 MSN – Psychiatric Mental Health Specialty
Hometown: Edgewater, Colorado
Fun Fact About Me: Traveling and music are my passions — I plan to incorporate them into my professional life as a nurse as much as possible!
What I Love About YSN: I’ve met lifelong friends and connections in the span of just a year! Events and self-care fairs are incredible, and I look forward to them whenever they happen!
Connecticut Recommendation: Sushi Palace (I’ll never turn down a good all-you-can-eat sushi restaurant!) and The Book Trader Café.
Additional YSN Involvement: GEPN Liaison for the 2021-2022 school year
Gayelan Tietje-Ulrich ’24 MSN – Family Nurse Practitioner Specialty
Fun Fact About Me: I’ve been trained in classical opera vocal performance!
What I Love About YSN: The passion and grit of my fellow cohort members at YSN is what keeps me going. I am so inspired to be part of a strong future network of APRNs.
Connecticut Recommendation: Hammonasset Beach in Madison, CT
Additional YSN Involvement: University-wide participation in a Yale graduate student a cappella group (The Citations) and a working group/proposal for a Yale LGBTQ+ Healthcare Program.
Roxanne Wright ’24 MSN – Nurse Midwifery Specialty
Hometown: Seattle born and raised, Chicago transplant in adulthood
Fun Fact About Me: I have three kids (wait, did you say “fun” fact, or “exhausting” fact?!)
What I Love About YSN: The people! Such wonderful classmates and professors that will one day be my colleagues.
Connecticut Recommendation: RAWA in Westville, Mikro in Hamden, Bella’s in Westville for brunch, East Rock Park, Farmington Canal bike trail, Wentworth’s Ice Cream (Hamden), Surf Club in Madison, CT.
Michelle Yuan ’24 MSN – Adult/Gerontology Acute Care Specialty
Hometown: New York, NY
Fun Fact About Me: l love to travel and have been to 28 countries (and counting)!
What I Love About YSN: The very best part of YSN is my fellow classmates and the support we have for each other.
Connecticut Recommendation: The food trucks outside Ingalls Rink are fantastic, and there’s a little area with picnic tables across the street!
Additional YSN Involvement: I am one of the Teaching Assistants for pharmacology this fall, and I am also a Bystander Intervention facilitator at YSN. Outside of YSN but still within Yale, I volunteer with HAVEN Free Clinic.
Additional Orientation Leaders this year include Women’s Health student Rosa Munson-Blatt ’24 MSN, Pediatric NP Primary Care student KellyAnn Rooney ’24 MSN, and Pediatric NP Primary Care student Wing Hung Yuen ‘24 MSN.