2019 Creative Writing Awards

2019 Honored Students

Congratulations and thanks to our students, alumni, sponsors, judges and the Creative Writing Committee for your help in making our event successful and enjoyable.

Camila Soto Espinoza ’21 MSN
Camila is an international first-year GEPN student. Her chosen specialty is midwifery/women’s health, with a concentration in global health. She graduated from the University of Concepción, Chile, in 2015 as a midwife and child care specialist and worked for two years in public hospitals caring for vulnerable, at-risk communities in Chile. Espinoza’s experience working with immigrant patients in Chile strengthened her long-term commitment to become a midwife of the world and provide inclusive, patient-centered care to Hispanic communities in English-speaking countries and underserved communities around the globe.

To read her deeply personal tribute to “the best nurses the world never got to know”, click here.

Diane Kim ’20 MSN
Diane is a women’s health and midwifery student. Her favorite parts of Yale include the Yale University Art Gallery, the Windham Campbell festival, and her inspiring School of Nursing classmates. After graduating from UC Davis in 2013 with a B.A. in international relations and Italian, she worked in public health and joined the Peace Corps. Her time working in Cameroon showed her that she wanted to spend her life working with women. Since moving to New Haven, she has volunteered with the HAVEN Free Clinic, Planned Parenthood, and the Yale Patient Navigator Program, and she plans to pursue a career in global health.

To read her essay about the unexpected intimacy of working with donors, click here. 

Cale Wardell ’20 MSN
Cale graduated Phi Beta Kappa in psychology-neuroscience from Colby College in 2013. At Colby, she played varsity field hockey, studied art and literature in St. Petersburg, Russia, and served as the president of Student Health On Campus. After graduation, Cale worked in psychiatric research at Northwestern and Boston universities, where she discovered she would rather work directly with patients instead of analyze data behind a computer screen in a cubicle. In Chicago, she left behind her best friend Henry, but is eternally grateful for his unwavering support. Cale is in her first specialty year and will graduate as a Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner.

To read her piece A Small White Card, click here. 

Top Talents

The preliminary judges would also like to recognize the students who made it to the final round of consideration:

Sebastian Beshk, Marian Blawie, Rae Caliento, Harley Chung, Lauren Eddy, Jess Harris, Sylvia Kang, Elizabeth Renker, Jenessa Payano Stark, Nikki Schachman, Naomi Schwartz, and Sarah Van Buren.

Honorable Mentions

The following students are being saluted as honorable mentions:

Mariah Baril-Dore, Sara Culver, Danielle DiPerna, Sylvia Kang, Casey Magis-Agosta, David McIntosh, Ashley Medley, Jaclynn Missler, Jennifer Persio, Alanna Sade-Milberg, Chelsea Smith, and Kendall Tamler.

Watch the event in its entirety here.