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Anne Nelson

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General information

Hobbies & Interests

  • Painting and Studio Art
  • Cooking
  • Art
  • Dance
  • Travel And Tourism
  • Yoga
  • Exercise And Fitness
  • Research
  • Singing
  • Nutrition
  • Culinary Arts
  • Exploring Nature And Being Outside
  • Rapping
  • Aerial Silks

Reading

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Bio

In the summer of 2016, after my first year in college at Auburn University as a pre-nursing major and dance minor, I was in a devastating car accident. I sustained several serious injuries but the most severe was damage to my spinal cord leaving me almost completely paralyzed from the waist down. I spent about three months in an inpatient rehabilitation facility and continued intensive physical therapy for several months after. I returned to Auburn in the spring of 2017 and was determined to continue and complete my minor in dance as Auburn's first wheelchair dancer. In doing so I have transformed the dance program. The return to college life while balancing my recovery was challenging. I was accepted into Auburn's Nursing program and started in the summer of 2019 while still using the wheelchair for classes and clinicals. My injury and recovery has given me a unique perspective in the field of nursing. It not only helps me in my clinical practice but also poses as an example to those around me. I strive to share and teach my experiences with my classmates in hopes that my knowledge may be helpful in their own clinical practice and that my image may be inspiration to others who face limitations in health care settings. Over my college dance career I have performed, presented and taught at various national and regional conferences. My choreography was awarded by the Liberal arts college in 2018 for its outstanding creative research and scholarship. I also was chosen to present my dance anatomy research project which focused on my spinal cord injury at the 2018 Auburn University Research Symposium. More recently, the story of my recovery and integration back into dance has been published in the Shepherd Center Spinal Column magazine, the Auburn Alumni magazine, and I was given the opportunity to share my story on the Auburn University School of Nursing Nurse Narrative podcast. I currently still use the wheelchair for classes, clincals and long distance traveling. However, my use and need for the chair is continuing to decrease as I have relentlessly worked towards building my endurance, strength, and ability through dance, yoga, independent exercise and many other forms of rehabilitation.

Education

Auburn University

Bachelor's degree program

2015 – Present

Majors:
  • Nursing Science
Minors:
  • Dance, General

Career

  • Choreographer and preformer

    Choreographer · North Alabama Dance Center

    Jan 2018 – Jan 2018

  • Yogurt shop employee

    Food & Beverages · Insanity Skate Park

    Jan 2016 – Jan 2016

  • Consessions stand employee

    Food & Beverages · Palmer Park Consessions

    Jan 2016 – Jan 2016

Miscellaneous

Dream career field:
Alternative Medicine
Dream career goals:
Researcher and practitioner in osteopathic and dance medicine
Has nursing license:
No

Future Interests

  • Advocacy
  • Volunteering
  • Philanthropy
  • Entrepreneurship
Frontline Heroes Nursing Grant
Choosing to pursue a career in nursing was something I decided to do when I was in high school. But even before this my fascination for anatomy, discovery, and research began in childhood. My parents still tell stories about me, as a young girl, watching surgeries on TV instead of cartoons. My first experience learning about anatomy was in 7th grade biology. It was my favorite topic in the course and the dissection experiments we conducted were so incredibly fascinating to me that I knew, then, that I wanted to go into the medical field. As my education continued I became more aware of how vast the career options can be. Not only has my fascination for medically related subjects been present from a young age, but also my nurturing spirit. Some of my youngest memories are of me loving and caring for younger children, animals, trees, plants, and baby dolls. The nurturing that began in my childhood has now grown into maturity and will follow with me into my nursing career. In the summer of 2016, after my first year in college at Auburn University as a pre-nursing major and dance minor, I was in a devastating car accident. I sustained several serious injuries but the most severe was damage to my spinal cord leaving me almost completely paralyzed from the waist down. After emergency surgery, I stayed in the ICU for 5 days. A week after my initial injury, I was transferred to the Shepherd Center in Atlanta and spent about three months in specialized inpatient rehabilitation and then continued intensive physical therapy for several months after. I returned to Auburn in the spring of 2017 and was determined to continue and complete my minor in dance as Auburn's first wheelchair dancer and my nursing degree no matter what it would take. The return to college life while balancing my recovery was challenging. I was accepted into Auburn's Nursing program and started in the summer of 2019 while still using the wheelchair for classes and clinicals. My injury and recovery has given me a unique perspective in the field of nursing. It not only helps me in my clinical practice, but also poses as an example to those around me. I strive to share and teach my experiences with my classmates in hopes that my knowledge may be helpful in their own clinical practice and that my image may be inspiration to others who face limitations in health care settings. My life changing injury has transformed me into feeling proud that I have the first-hand experience of what it is like to be the patient and the ability to be a teacher to those who do not. In 2018, I got the chance to combine my two passions, fascination for the human body and dance. I was chosen to present my dance anatomy research project which focused on my spinal cord injury at the 2018 Auburn University Research Symposium. More recently, the story of my recovery and integration back into dance has been published in the Shepherd Center Spinal Column magazine, the Auburn Alumni magazine, and I was given the opportunity to share my story on the Auburn University School of Nursing Nurse Narrative podcast. I currently still use the wheelchair for classes, clinicals and long-distance traveling. However, my use and need for the chair is continuing to decrease as I have worked relentlessly toward building my endurance, strength, and ability through dance, yoga, independent exercise and many other forms of rehabilitation. I am humbled but beyond proud to stand where I am today as a wheelchair dancer making history at Auburn University and a student nurse with personal experience of what my patients are going through. Although there may be a possibility of some physical limitations I will face in my ability as a nurse, I am more confident in my ability to problem solve creatively, advocate for myself and others and my abilit
Anne Nelson Student Profile | Bold.org