Realizing that you are giving an injection to one of your nursing faculty could be a little unnerving, but Sarah administered the vaccination with excellent technique. It was a privilege to have her administer my vaccine.”

Dr. Roni Collazo, EMCC professor

ABOUT THE PROGRAM

Estrella Mountain Community College’s nursing program offers smaller class sizes than large universities, affordable education, financial aid counseling and application assistance. Students have the ability to obtain a bachelor’s degree in nursing while earning an associate degree through the Concurrent Enrollment Program. To learn more, visit estrellamountain.edu/programs/nursing.

Many nursing students might be a little nervous about giving their professor an injection. Not Sarah Idowu.

“I wasn’t really nervous at all,” said the Estrella Mountain Community College student, who is performing her clinicals at Abrazo West Campus in Goodyear. “I was more excited.”

As part of her work at Abrazo West, Ms. Idowu is helping to administer the COVID-19 vaccine. One of her professors, Dr. Roni Collazo, just happened to be in her lane recently at the point of distribution site on the campus, 13677 W. McDowell Road.

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The community college, 3000 N. Dysart Road in Avondale, serves students from throughout the West Valley.

“Realizing that you are giving an injection to one of your nursing faculty could be a little unnerving, but Sarah administered the vaccination with excellent technique,” Dr. Collazo said. “It was a privilege to have her administer my vaccine.”

Ms. Idowu enrolled in EMCC’s nursing program last fall, about five months after the pandemic hit, and said she feels more passionate about nursing now more than ever before.

“It has fueled my desire to help heal people, to comfort, and advocate for others,” she said. “COVID has caused so much pain and suffering in many people’s lives, I definitely want to be a vessel used to end it.”

Ms. Idowu was born in Lagos, Nigeria, and came to the U.S. at age 2. Her parents moved here to accomplish their educational goals and for their church. She said they inspired her to go into nursing.

“My mother was a CNA and caregiver, who also obtained her bachelor’s in computer science and my late father was a pre-med major, but honored his father’s wishes and became a mechanical engineer,” Ms. Idowu said. “I was a pre-med major, then soon discovered after my father’s second stroke when I helped him with his medication and would give him daily blood glucose monitoring that I was meant to be a nurse.”

Despite spending her own career in the medical field, Ms. Idowu’s mother still worries for her safety because of the pandemic, but she’s also one of her daughter’s biggest supporters. She said her daughter reminds her of the “amazing” protocols that have taken place in EMCC’s nursing program to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

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“We are donned in full personal protection equipment, and they have made great measures of social distancing when in the lab,” Ms. Idowu said. “They run a pretty good, tight ship over there.”

The wife and mother of seven said juggling school and home life isn’t easy, but that her family encourages her on a daily basis to work hard and keep pushing forward.

“I pray and meditate a lot,” Ms. Idowu said. “I do have times when I am very stressed, especially now in school, but that is when I step back and just pray and breathe.”