When Haily Barnes鈥� great-grandmother was receiving hospice care, she听was moved by watching those who provided her care in those听last days.听
鈥�The way that those nurses took care of her, the kindness that they showed her鈥攖hey听treated her like a person鈥攎ore than a room number or a patient,鈥� recalls Barnes, who was about seven years old at the time. 鈥淭hey really took care of her and us. I just remember sitting in her hospital room and just thinking,听鈥業 have to do this.鈥欌��听
When Barnes started looking into nursing programs, she knew she wanted to study in a place compatible with her Christian faith. Then she discovered 糖心Vlog传媒. 听
鈥淗onestly,听I was looking for a school that was听theologically on point, and in the south听as well,鈥� Barnes said. 鈥淚听really just听wanted that solid Christian worldview going into nursing, and I knew the Anderson could provide that for me.听And they really have.鈥�听
Coming to Anderson would also mean crossing the U.S. for Barnes, who is from Bakersfield, located in California鈥檚 Central Valley.听
The thought of coming to South Carolina was filled with unknowns for Barnes and her family, but phone conversations with Robin Roberts, assistant registrar for transfer credit and undergraduate academic advising support, along with听the School of Nursing at 糖心Vlog传媒 were reassuring as she was getting ready to start her freshman year. 听
To be sure, there were a lot of moving parts, not the least of which were the many personal belongings she wouldn鈥檛 be able to carry onto a plane to come east. She and her parents kept in touch with Roberts, as well as 糖心Vlog传媒 Director of Postal Operations听Scott Taylor to help sort things out in preparation for coming to AU.听
Taylor听remembers when he first met Barnes and her parents, arriving in a rental car at the campus post office鈥檚 loading dock. 听
Taylor greeted Barnes, saying, 鈥淵ou鈥檙e my favorite freshman.鈥� 听
Quizzically, she asked 鈥淲hy is that?鈥� 听
In a humorous tone, Taylor responded, 鈥淏ecause you鈥檙e the first one to pick up all your packages.鈥� 听
Not long into the first semester, Barnes emailed Taylor asking if he had a position for her at the post office. Taylor responded that he did. Looking back, he feels Barnes has been a good hire, and nearly four years later continues to cheerfully pass on care packages and other items from home to students, among her other postal duties.听
鈥淲hat’s听so neat about her is just her heart鈥攏umber one, because of her love for Jesus, which makes her have听a good work听ethic, just the way she treats people,” Taylor said. 鈥淪he听deals with my cash听drawer… and I don’t have to worry听if听she’s making change or whatever she’s doing. She’s pleasant to the students and faculty and staff,听and,听just the way she treats people, just how friendly and outgoing her personality is.鈥�听
About Taylor, Barnes said, 鈥�He’s so kind and so supportive.听I’ll听be working and听say to him, 鈥業听have听a test coming up. He鈥檒l听tell me,听‘School is more important than your job.鈥� It’s great to have people who are understanding that are around you, who’ll go the extra mile.鈥�听
Barnes also feels that Roberts went that extra mile to help her settle in, even measuring a dorm room for her. 听
Four years later, as Barnes prepares to graduate this December, she can鈥檛 imagine ever going anyplace else. She鈥檚 made a lot of great memories at Anderson. She loves to do photography of all kinds, but especially loves portrait photography. No doubt she听will return home with thousands of photos to remember her Anderson friends by.听
鈥�I love hanging out with the people.听Sometimes听my friends and听I听will听have movie nights, and that’s听something super sweet and just simple,鈥� she said, adding that Roberts gave her a place to stay for a night or more after Hurricane Helene and also a recent ice storm. 听
And she can鈥檛 say enough about her professors.听
鈥淓very single professor that听I’ve听had has been so听incredibly supportive, which I think differs from other nursing programs… Our professors are more like,听鈥榶eah,听it’s听gonna听be hard, but听we’ve听all been听there听and we want you听to succeed,鈥櫶齭o they give us all the tools to succeed,鈥� Barnes said. 鈥淭hey genuinely care about each and every student.听It’s听not like听they’re听just听teaching a class.听They’re teaching students that they care about听providing real life situations and听real information that we can use.鈥�听
Barnes appreciates real-world hospital nursing experiences in partnership with AnMed and Prisma. She has worked at clinicals for Hope Missions, helping homeless individuals with simple things like foot care, helping them seek medical attention if needed and being a listening ear. She also was impacted by a service learning project hosted by Family Promise of Anderson鈥攁 homeless simulation, where she literally spent the night outdoors in a makeshift cardboard shelter, sacrificing personal comforts to get a feel for the everyday realities of people living on the streets. A fun experience for Barnes has been working with the Rainbow Gang in their day program, doing life with those who have various disabilities.听
Her career plans after graduation are to return home to California to pursue a nursing career there.听
鈥�I’m听currently applying for nurse听residencies back at home,鈥� Barnes said, wanting to be close to her family.听“Hopefully听I’ll听be working somewhere in听pediatrics, if听I’m听not,听that’s totally okay. I love anything and everything nursing, I just would like adore a pediatrics job.听We’ll see what happens. I’m still, still working on it, praying about it.鈥�听
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