The student speaker will be Adrianne Sapienza, a graduating MSN student and native of New Castle, Penn. Sapienza has four years of experience in the nursing profession. She earned a bachelor's degree in science with a certificate in the Conceptual Foundations of the History of Medicine from the University of Pittsburgh, an associate degree in nursing from the Community College of Beaver County, and a bachelor’s degree in nursing from Capella University.

She said her ultimate career goal is to work as a pediatric nurse practitioner while serving as a policy advisor and working at the national and global health scales to create a healthier world for children. As her final project, Sapienza and her partner Brendetta Huffman-Rowe presented their poster titled “Open Up the Conversation: Tools to Facilitate Open Communication Between Primary Care Providers and Transgender Adolescents,” at the National Association of Nurse Practitioners North Carolina Symposium regarding gender-affirming care.

 The objective of the poster was to show effective tools for primary care providers to feel comfortable identifying, communicating, supporting, and referring transgender adolescents and why adopting these tools is important to support adolescent mental health.     

Academic regalia are required for the ceremony. For more information about the ceremony and schedule of events, please visit the graduation page. We also want you to share your graduation experience with us via social media using #dusongraduation2023.