In honor of National Siblings Day, meet former and current CUW School of Nursing students Liz ('18) and Emily ('21) Hafemann, from Hales Corners, WI.
How it started …
Liz: “My mom went there, my aunt went there, and my grandpa was the registrar there forever. But I also knew that I wanted to go into nursing, and the nursing program at Concordia is great. The other big thing was basketball. I looked a little bit at other schools, but I knew from a while back that I wanted to go to Concordia.”
Emily: “I was the complete opposite. I told myself, ‘I’m not going to go to Concordia, because everybody had gone here.” I was going to be the one who goes and does her own thing. I looked at a lot of schools, and it took me a long time to make a decision, but when it came right down to it, I realized that Concordia just felt like home.”
How it’s going …
Emily: “I think such a cool part of our nursing program is that we focus on holistic health. You really learn how to integrate your faith. The way I think about it is being the hands and feet of Jesus; you’re caring for all of His people. Knowing that would be emphasized was a really important part of my decision.”
Liz: “We have been in Christian schools since we were in preschool, and knowing that we would continue that, that faith would be stressed as part of our everyday life, was another really big thing about Concordia. In the nursing program, so much is about medicine, but it’s also about learning to bring faith into it as well.”
What they love about each other …
Emily: “Liz will drop anything on a dime to help me out, answer a phone call, come pick me up. Also, if I’m scared to do something, I always know that she’ll do it first, and then I’ll be okay!”
Liz: “Emily is super-hard-working, she’s super loyal, and she’ll always stand up for her family and friends and what she believes. You don’t want to mess with Emily!”
What gets under their skin …
Emily: It takes Liz forever to pick out an outfit—and it’s usually out of my closet!
Liz: Emily likes to scream at the top of her lungs while singing in the car—usually when she’s supposed to be giving me directions!
Fun family fact …
Liz and Emily were featured with their mom, Sue, in an article in the Spring 2019 edition of Concordian magazine about their family history of playing women’s basketball at CUW.
Continuing the family history …
Liz: “I’m working at St. Luke’s Hospital in Milwaukee on a step-down ICU Cardiothoracic floor. My mom used to work on the same floor. I started as a nursing assistant there and worked my way up. I just recently started being a charge nurse, so I don’t have any plans of changing floors quite yet.”
Emily: “I actually just accepted a job on the same floor as Liz! I’ve also worked there for the past three years as a nursing assistant, and now I’m going to be transitioning to a nursing role, so that’s super exciting. I definitely at some point want to go back and get my nurse practitioner degree, but we’ll see where life takes me.”
To learn more about the School of Nursing at Concordia University Wisconsin, visit cuw.edu.
— This story is written by Mike Zimmerman, corporate communications manager for Concordia University Wisconsin. He may be reached at michael.zimmerman@cuw.edu or 262-243-4380.
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