Spring Commencement 2025 - Natalie Preston crosses the finish line to earn her nursing degree

Natalie Preston was always interested in healthcare and instinctively knew that’s where her educational journey would take her. When she told her parents she had decided on nursing and would be traveling about 14 hours south from her native Vermont to Radford University in Southwest Virginia, they presented her with a surprise.

“My parents showed me a picture from when I was about 4 years old with a stethoscope around my neck,” Preston recalled. “I guess it was always meant to be.”

It would be a series of challenging experiences she had when she was a bit older, however, that would bring her eventual career goal into focus. Around the time she was in fourth grade, she remembers first being in the hospital and feeling terribly scared of everything from needles to anesthesia.

“A lot of the healthcare professionals who worked with me when I was sick helped make that journey so much more comfortable,” she said. “When I was getting my first IV, I was pretty traumatized and was screaming and thrashing. But one of the nurses brought a Lego book in for me and spoke to me in a soothing way that got me through it. Before I knew it, there was an IV in my arm.”

Preston said that the support she received from the nurses and other healthcare workers during the nearly four years she spent in and out of the hospital inspired her to get through some very difficult times. The experiences also inspired her to become a nurse so she could do the same for others.

She prepared by taking anatomy and physiology courses in high school and shadowing nurses as part of a STEM academy her school offered.

“I fell in love with the nursing career path,” Preston said.

At Radford, Preston has balanced her work in the classrooms and simulation labs with her athletic commitments to the cross-country and track teams. She admits that it wasn’t always easy to be a student-athlete because of the challenges in finding time and focus for both books and track shoes.

“During the first year of nursing school, you think I don’t believe I’m ever going to get to the point where I’m comfortable in everything I’m doing,” Preston said. “As each semester went along, though, what I learned built on itself, and it never felt choppy. There’s growth that happens when you don’t even realize it.”

Preston added that each day in class and clinicals led to a consistency that helped her smoothly transition through the program to where she is now, ready to graduate and confident in her nursing skills.

Preston also praised the nursing faculty for their focus on helping students review their time in the program and how much they have developed as clinicians and people.

“The professors at Radford put a lot of focus on us reflecting and looking back at our growth,” Preston said. “I didn’t really believe the professors when they told us the growth that we would see from year one to year four. Now, looking back, I'm just like, wow, this program really prepares you for your career in ways I couldn’t have imagined.”

On the track, Preston said she found a tight-knit second family that has also been pivotal to her success as a Highlander.

When she arrived as a first-year student, Preston had a stress fracture, which made running very difficult, if not impossible. Some athletes would have left the track behind with such an injury, but Preston saw it as just another challenge to overcome.

“It was the biggest injury I’d ever had,” Preston said. “My coach, though, said, ‘We’re going to work through this, and we’re going to get you running because we want you to be doing this for the rest of your life.’”

That focus on the well-being of the athlete on the playing field, in the classroom and in life is a trademark of athletics at Radford University. Preston added, “The team, I guess, they didn’t need me, but I needed them. I see running and nursing as parallels. I see lots of similarities.”

Preston said that she approaches her studies and her athletic endeavors in much the same way, applying critical thinking and problem-solving skills to find solutions, explanations or treatments while also working to see the situation from a holistic, big-picture perspective. That approach has paid off as she prepares to accept her diploma during the 2025 Spring Commencement ceremony.

Now that she is approaching the finish line, Preston is ready to move on to her next big challenge: a position in the cardiovascular ICU at Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital in Roanoke. Since she did her practicum in that unit, she already knows a little about what to expect from her day-to-day life working there, but Preston acknowledges that her education at Radford was an important part of her preparation for the job.

“For anybody who’s thinking about Radford University, the faculty are going to give you guidance and support, so when you hit these challenges – when you hit these bumps – you have the tools you need to succeed. It’s pretty incredible and surprising how much you can grow over four years.”

To learn more about Radford University's commencement ceremonies, visit www.radford.edu/commencement.