“What do you want to be when you grow up” is a question some of us still ponder. But not Yolanda Sime-Polanco: the Rutgers–Camden senior had her career plans squared away at four years old.
After weeks in a Dominican Republic hospital recovering from Typhoid fever, the current Maple Shade resident knew for certain that she would like to help others the way caring nurses helped her as a young child.
On May 17, Sime-Polanco will realize her childhood dream during the inaugural Rutgers School of Nursing—Camden commencement when she receives her BSN, a degree she began earning at just 16 years old. In the Dominican Republic, where she lived until 2000, children can begin school much sooner; Sime-Palano, for instance, started first grade at just three and a half.
“When I started at Rutgers–Camden, all the other students were older and I didn’t even have a driver’s license,” she recalls. That’s when she heeded the sage advice of her then Educational Opportunity Fund advisor Pamela Clark, who now directs TRIO Student Support Services. “She gave me personal tips on how to stay out of trouble and stay focused,” notes Sime-Polanco of Clark.
And stay focused, she did. So much so that Sime-Polanco, who graduated from Camden County Technical School in 2007, earned many accolades while at Rutgers–Camden. She was the recipient of the Student Worker of the Year Award from the Rutgers School of Business—Camden, for a secretarial position she’s held since her first year on campus. In addition, Sime-Polanco received a nursing scholarship, the EOF Outstanding Academic Achievement Award, and has been inducted into Sigma Theta Tau and Athenaeum.
What kept Sime-Polanco on track? Asking for help and getting it from the right people.
“The biggest deal is to not be afraid to ask for help. No one is here to judge you. I had a wide variety of people helping me and it’s made such a difference.”
This fall, Sime-Polanco will begin serving as a staff nurse at South Jersey Hospital. She would like to return to Rutgers for a graduate degree.
Media Contact: Cathy K. Donovan
856-225-6627
E-mail: catkarm@camden.rutgers.edu