UNMC is educating the next generation of nurses

Nolan Parks is a Nebraskan through and through. He’s an avid Husker football fan who loves throwing the football around with friends, spending time with family and playing with his dog, Steve.

When he graduated from the UNMC College of Nursing in May, Parks knew he wanted to stay in Nebraska, close to family and friends. So he accepted a position as a registered nurse in the Nebraska Medicine ICU in Omaha.

“Working in the ICU as a nurse has been everything I had hoped it would be,” said Parks, the recipient of the Sharon Bonham Holyoke Nursing Scholarship at UNMC. “I am beyond grateful for this excellent opportunity to make a direct impact on patients and their families. My entire life, I’ve wanted to become a nurse.”

Parks’ path to nursing began at the age of 13. He had two loves: football and medicine. He played football and participated in track at Elkhorn South High School and then attended the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, where he served as an equipment manager for the Husker football team. After two years, Parks transferred to UNMC to study nursing.

“UNMC means the world to me,” Parks said. “The faculty, the students and all my peers here have been incredible in my learning journey.”

Parks received financial support at UNMC through a scholarship funded by a generous UNMC alumna. Even though he worked part time during nursing school as a certified nursing assistant at Nebraska Medicine and lived with his parents to save money, Parks said he was worried he would need to take out student loans to finish his Bachelor of Science in Nursing.

Receiving the scholarship removed financial stress. Having the chance to meet the scholarship’s benefactor, Sharon Bonham Holyoke, inspired Parks to be the best nurse he could be.

Holyoke, who lives in Omaha, is a 1966 graduate of the UNMC College of Nursing and a retired, longtime nursing faculty member. Multiple scholarships at UNMC carry the Holyoke name. Sharon and her late husband, Edward “Ted” Holyoke Jr., MD, believed in the importance of giving back to the institution that gave them an education.

“Ted and I believed it was important to do good things with our money,” she said. “We always wanted to give back to say thank you.”

Holyoke said she enjoys meeting with UNMC scholarship recipients. “I love to connect with students — they’re just delightful,” she said. “They’re so refreshing and so impressive.”

Parks said that meeting Holyoke was an experience he’ll never forget.

“She is everything that you would hope your nurse would be — sweet, empathetic,” he said. “It meant the world to me.”

Parks said he’ll always feel grateful for the scholarship.

“This is a gift I will never forget, one that I will remember each time I clock in, and every time I receive that heartwarming feeling of discharging a patient who has made a full recovery,” he said.