Celine Lodge earns Norman R. McConney, Jr. Award for Student Excellence
EOP student is a double major in psychology and nursing
On Dec. 14, 2020, State University of New York (SUNY) Chancellor Jim Malatras celebrated the achievements of 45 students in SUNY鈥檚 Educational Opportunity Program (EOP). Each of 49 SUNY campuses had the opportunity to nominate one EOP student for the Norman R. McConney, Jr. Award for Student Excellence, which recognizes students鈥 academic excellence and strength in overcoming personal obstacles.
黑料视频鈥檚 awardee is Celine Lodge, a double-major in psychology and nursing, who is set to graduate in 2022.
鈥淲inning this award means so, so much,鈥 said Lodge. 鈥淚t means my hard work is paying off. A lot of times I see that I鈥檓 working so hard, but my grade is not showcasing that. So this award means to just keep pushing on because there is someone out there who is noticing my hard work.鈥
Lodge feels a particular kinship to McConney, for whom the award is named, due to her resolute desire to make a difference in the lives of people who look like her. McConney was a public policy strategist who helped draft the legislation that established the SUNY EOP in 1967. He also oversaw several statewide initiatives to benefit underrepresented New Yorkers, including programs to prepare minority high school students for careers in the sciences and medicine. He also developed and was the lead negotiator for the passage of the bill that created nurse practitioners in New York state.
McConney鈥檚 work on the nurse practitioner bill is particularly meaningful to Lodge, who aspires to become a nurse practitioner. In summer 2019, she volunteered at Jacobi Hospital in the Bronx, which serves a very diverse population of patients 鈥 only 8% of whom are white, according to the NYC Health + Hospitals 2019 Community Health Needs Assessment. In addition to shadowing nurses and assisting with clerical duties there, Lodge implemented a patient satisfaction survey for patients on the medical/surgical floor where she was stationed.
鈥淚 went around to each room and asked the patients how they were feeling with the service they were receiving,鈥 said Lodge. 鈥淭hen, with that data, I went to the nursing manager. We were able to make sure that the patients were getting the care that they needed not only medically, but also making sure that they were happy. It changed my life because, before, I was interested in either business or nursing, but through that experience, I realized that nursing is my passion.鈥
Lodge wants to focus her career on women鈥檚 health 鈥 more specifically the health of Black women, who, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, are two to three times more likely to die from pregnancy-related causes than white women. It鈥檚 not only Black women who are suffering from inferior care, though. A report released by the National Academy of Medicine found that 鈥渞acial and ethnic minorities receive lower-quality healthcare than white people 鈥 even when insurance status, income, age and severity of conditions are comparable.鈥
These data points led Lodge to apply for the Ronald E. McNair Postbaccalaureate Achievement Program (also known as the McNair Scholars Program), a federal TRIO program for undergraduate researchers in pursuit of a doctoral degree. Lodge was accepted into 黑料视频鈥檚 2020 summer research program and worked with her research mentor, Sharon Bryant, an associate professor and director of diversity, equity and inclusion for the Decker College of Nursing and Health Sciences. Bryant also directs the University鈥檚 Science and Technology Entry Program (STEP) and Upward Bound Math and Science (UBMS) program. Her research focuses on the relationship between perceived discrimination in healthcare and practicing preventive health behaviors.
鈥淲e were looking at how perceived discrimination within healthcare effects African American individuals,鈥 said Lodge. 鈥淚t was really devastating to see the statistics on that 鈥 if a person feels like they鈥檙e being discriminated against, or if they think [they will be discriminated against], they鈥檙e going to be more reluctant to get the healthcare they need.鈥
Lodge said that, particularly in the past year, she鈥檚 been distraught by the high mortality rate of African Americans who are diagnosed with COVID-19, and that has also fueled her ambition to pursue nursing.
鈥淚 want to help those who look like me,鈥 she said, 鈥渁nd I can鈥檛 help them from the outside. I have to be working from within.鈥
Despite the successful volunteer and research experiences she鈥檚 had recently, Lodge said she struggled when she first came to the University. She attended a Bronx high school in that she felt focused only on standardized testing, so coming to Binghamton was a culture shock because she had a lot of catching up to do to reach the academic standards expected of her by faculty. At the time, she also hadn鈥檛 yet given much thought to what she wanted to do with her life. On top of that, she has had to worry about financial stability.
鈥淚鈥檓 financially independent,鈥 she said, 鈥渟o it鈥檚 been really hard. I know you are not necessarily a product of your environment, but I鈥檝e learned that if you want a good life, you have to push through that and achieve it yourself. Once I realized that, I鈥檝e been going head-first ever since.鈥
Lodge said EOP has been her lifeline, and she is truly grateful for all of the support she has received from the program and her counselors. None of her successes would have been possible without EOP.
鈥淚鈥檓 really feeling so accomplished with being in the Decker School of Nursing, being an EOP student and being of African American descent,鈥 she said. 鈥淚鈥檓 really excited about what鈥檚 in the future, and what more is to come.鈥