GCC Student Nursing Association (SNA) is a club that helps support incoming nursing students during tough times as the workload that the program requires can become overwhelming. A lot of students have dropped the program due to being stressed because they didn’t have any support, stated club president, Cassandra Chihuahua. Chihuahua also stated in an interview with El Vaquero that the club has noticed that more student involvement has declined. It’s unclear if that’s students returning after the pandemic or the onerous demands the program generally demands. 

SNA helps nursing students with support and networking, hosting parties and raffles for students. The program also helps students with mock interviews so they get an idea how the real nursing world is going to be like, explained Chihuahua. 

Chihuahua’s goals are for more nursing students to become involved in the club and to try to deduce the reason there’s a decline in student involvement. Nursing school requires so much time and coming into the club to ask questions and for help will be a good start for students in the program, explained Chihuahua. She also plans to set up a club where pre-nursing students can come join in during lectures so they can get an idea of what they are going to experience. 

Chihuahua is currently a licensed vocational nurse, or LVN, and is in her last year of nursing school. She said she hopes that the involvement in this club will benefit her when applying for jobs. Notably, Chihuahua is a full-time mother, juggling school, and involved in extracurriculars. 

“Any Nursing student can join the club,” she wants students to know. “There is no membership fee, [and] they can also join our Zoom calls as well.”  

Find more information about the club on instagram at @gcc.sna.

Samantha Carrillo can be reached at [email protected].