Nurse Pursues Switch to Teaching and Finds Love of Writing
Of the couple dozen submissions to the WNMU Creative Writing Contest, “The Intruder” by Nadien Chavez won first place in the prose/play category. “I’m working on two degrees at WNMU. My first is in secondary education with a focus in English language arts. The other is a degree in English Literature,” Chavez said. Clearly, she appreciates the written word. But Chavez has been a nurse for seven years. “The medical field is not for me,” she said. “I fell into nursing. Honestly, COVID-19 changed my life. I thought about what I was doing with my life, where I was going. I wasn’t fulfilled or happy in nursing, and being a teacher was always in the back of my head. I love working with kids.” She opted to make a change. “I got an associate degree from Doña Ana Community College in Las Cruces, where I live, but my boyfriend’s family is from Silver City. Some of them graduated from WNMU. I just called up one day, and the staff was really helpful. They made...