Featured Falcons: Miranda Sennett

Originally from just down the road in Alabaster, Miranda Sennett is taking the University of Montevallo’s new nursing program by the reins and finding ways to give back to the program that continues to give so much to her.

Sennett graduated from Thompson High School in 2016, then attended Mississippi State University to earn her bachelor’s degree in microbiology. From there, she was able to work as a clinical lab technician, then went on to become a medical assistant at Grandview Medical Center. After that experience, Sennett felt like she wanted more.

“I wanted to be the one face to face with the patient,” she said.

Sennett has truly found her calling in the nursing program at Montevallo. She was getting out of clinicals with overwhelming excitement for when she could go back.

“Yes, this is hard, but this is exactly what I want,” she said. “This is exactly what I’m meant to be doing.”

Nursing school also requires students to have classes in the summer, but Sennett doesn’t mind.

“I almost felt like we were like in our tucked away little world of nursing, and I got to see my professors most of the week,” she said. “It was more of like an informal type experience because it’s in the summer.”

In her time at Montevallo, Sennett has become the president of the Student Nurses’ Association (SNA). The SNA’s goal is to help nursing students grow professionally, personally and socially. They help provide resources for nurses to succeed, including opportunities like student involvement in the community and education on health issues.

SNA has shown Sennett ways to grow and help other students like her succeed. She feels proud to help start the SNA, and her legacy will always be here at Montevallo.

“I get to go back in like 15 years and be like, ‘yeah I helped start that,’” she said. “SNA is also for pre-nursing students, and that’s kind of exciting because you get to see the growth of the program too.”

Sennett is especially thankful for her professors who helped her find her passion in labor and delivery, as she had lots of help from her professors and attended many events with them. She highlights that there are more personal connections here at Montevallo — she is able to have discussions with faculty on a regular basis and feels like she is always listened to.

“Montevallo means more opportunities and connections,” she said. “I have a connection with my faculty that I know a lot of people at bigger schools don’t have.”

Sennett is hoping to work in labor and delivery when she finishes school. She plans to take a few years to get her feet under her in bedside nursing but wants to pursue a master’s degree to become a clinical instructor. She has found that the blend of academia and bedside has interested her from observing her professors throughout her time in school.

Sennett hopes to be an encouragement to anyone thinking about or hoping to pursue nursing in the future.

“Check out nursing,” she said. “We’re small but mighty!”

Outside of nursing life, Sennett categorizes herself as a “serial hobbyist.” When she isn’t studying, learning in clinics or in class, she tends to try many things including reading, gardening, baking bread and other hobbies.