6:00 p.m., May 31, 2003--“It’s been a long journey with many changes and moves in between, but I am finally achieving what has been my personal goal for more than 50 years--getting my bachelor of science degree in nursing,” Elizabeth Kuchta Melnik, who just turned 72 and is the oldest member of UD’s Class of 2003, said.

Melnik received her RN from a hospital in McKeesport, Pa., now a part of the University of Pittsburg, in 1951. Then, she and her husband, Peter, moved to the Bronx where Melnik worked as a visiting nurse and took courses at Hunter College. When her husband, who is a chemical engineer by profession, attended Harvard Divinity School, the couple moved to Boston. There she continued working after the first of their three children was born.

Then, she said, she became a full-time mom for 20 years, doing all those “mom things.” Subsequent moves took the family from Canada to Louisiana before coming to Delaware.

When her children were in high school, Melnik decided it was time to go back to work and to do something for herself. She took a nursing refresher course, received her Delaware nursing license and began working in gerontology for the state at Emily Bissell Hospital in 1980. She was a nurse there for 15 years before retiring.

Melnik also decided to pursue her dream of getting her bachelor’s degree in nursing. She gathered all of her credits together and attended Delaware Tech before matriculating in UD’s distance learning program in nursing. With her family looking on, Melnik achieved her longtime goal when she received her degree at UD’s 154th Spring Commencement on Saturday, May 31.

Article by Sue Moncure
Photo by Duane Perry