VGCC Nursing Graduate Persevered

When Niles Edward “Ned” Serls, III of Warrenton graduated from the Associate Degree Nursing program at Vance-Granville Community College on May 15, he enjoyed the culmination of a long process. Serls (pictured above) had been working on his degree for six years — about three times longer than most of his classmates in the challenging program — because he had to suspend his education twice to serve his country in Iraq. “Ned is the epitome of persistence and perseverance,” said Renee Hill, director of Vance-Granville’s Nursing program .

“I’ve always been interested in the medical field,” Serls recalled. For eight years, he was an emergency medical technician for a volunteer fire department in Warren County. “My sister-in-law is a registered nurse, and we were talking, and I liked the idea of becoming a nurse, so I came to Vance-Granville and looked into the program and liked what I saw,” Serls said. But just one month after he started school in 2003, he received orders from the National Guard to go to Iraq. “I was disappointed because I was excited about nursing,” he said. Beth Phillips, director of the VGCC nursing program at the time, assured him that military leave would not be held against him, and that he could start again when he returned home. After 18 months operating heavy equipment and transporting supplies in Iraq, Serls resumed his studies in 2005. He enjoyed his instructors and the various sites at which he received clinical training. By 2007, Serls was two semesters away from graduating, when orders again arrived instructing him to re-deploy to the war zone.

“I was deploying as a military policeman to downtown Baghdad, so I knew it was a much more serious mission compared to the last time I deployed,” Serls said. “As upset as I was about missing the nursing program, I had to put my head in the game there with my military duty, knowing that when I came back, I would jump back into nursing, full steam ahead.” A year later, Serls did just that, and instructors once again supported him as he readjusted to education. The father of two who also worked part-time received a Henry S. Peoples Memorial/Disabled American Veterans Chapter 67 scholarship through the VGCC Endowment Fund. He said that his education was a “struggle” for his family, “but it’s worth it in the end. We hope to reap the benefits in the near future when I’m employed as a nurse.” As graduation neared, Serls had already been hired by Maria Parham Medical Center for the hospital’s emergency department. He plans one day to continue his education with bachelor’s and perhaps master’s degrees in nursing. Serls believes his military experience was also educational and will affect how he works. “One of the major skills of nursing is leadership,” he said. “My position in the military and training have helped me establish my leadership skills. I’m not scared to be in a leadership position. I’ve been trained and tested. The military has made me a better person for the positions I will fill as a nurse.”