Sydney Wardner attended LRSC from the fall of 2019 to the spring of 2022 when she earned her associate of nursing degree. Sydney had chosen to study nursing at Lake Region because she had heard wonderful things from previous nursing students in her small town. Sydney said, “Some of my best memories from LRSC were ones made with my softball teammates and fellow nursing students. Nursing is a hard profession, with very long hours in the lab and the classroom. I found that some of my teammates and classmates intertwined because of the smaller class sizes and campus. One that stands out is going to open skate night at the Burdick arena for a campus event!”

On campus, the person who had the biggest impact on Sydney was her royal ambassador's advisor, Ashlee Collison. Sydney said, “During my time at LRSC, there was not any member of staff who was anything but kind and helpful. Ashlee took that above and beyond. She was my biggest supporter and genuinely took an interest in me and my degree. Coming from a medical background herself, she often helped quiz me if I was doing work at the spare desk in their office. She wouldn't bat an eye if I came into her office after a bad day and listened to me. She also reached out to a group she thought I would enjoy, and I met many more friends during that.”

If Sydney had any advice for new students, it would be to be brave and embrace new things. “Going to college can be very stressful if making new friends is not a strong suit, but because LRSC is a smaller campus, you make friends easily by being involved in many of the same activities as other students,” Sydney said. “I also would say that even though the size of the campus is small, there is no shortage of activities or groups to be a part of. I also encourage you to try new things and opportunities that you have never dreamed of doing because it can put you on wonderful new adventures,” Syndey said.

Sydney is currently working as an associate degree Nurse at Altru in the surgical department. Her job entails going to get the patients for surgery, assisting the CRNAs during the case, and circulating during the surgery. She may someday go on to obtain her bachelor’s degree in nursing from Mayville State or possibly a Registered Nurse First Assistant degree so that she may assist surgeons during surgery.