Brian Burke

Student

Brian is from Kingsford, but he’s moving to Milwaukee this summer. He graduated from KHS in 2013. Brian is currently finishing his degree in Nursing and will complete his ADN on May 11, 2019!

He chose this career after working in memory care as a Care Specialist, realizing that he wanted to make more of an impact in the lives of the residents. This lead Brian to quitting his degree in Human Services, leaving the college he was attending and moving home to complete his education in Nursing at Bay College.

His dream job has always been to work as an ED or ICU nurse, and he’s taking the first step towards this career but starting work as a Neuro-Surgical RN this summer at
St. Luke's Medical Center in Milwaukee, WI.

He selected Bay College after hearing about how AMAZING the RN program is at Bay College, and he has not been disappointed. He has had so much help on the long journey of Nursing school and the faculty has been so encouraging and kind--which has definitely been appreciated with how stressful Nursing school can be! 

Brian’s grandma played a role in influencing his decision because she is a Bay Alumni in the LPN program. His grandma was an LPN with DCH and was always pushed him to find a career in healthcare. Seeing her compassion and hearing her stories made him want to pursue a career in Nursing, on top of already loving the work he had been doing as a CNA.

The most surprising thing about attending Bay has been the amount of help that he has received from TRiO and the rest of the academic staff. The TRiO team has been so supportive-whether they were checking in, assisting with applications for BSN, or assisting with scholarships.  He is very appreciative of the TRio team.

Caitlin Capodilupo and Jennifer Farnsworth are two of his favorite instructors. “It's always inspiring to see people who are passionate and genuinely love the field that they are in, both as nurses and instructors, so as a student it made me want to find that same passion,” stated Brian. They've always pushed me to do my best and have always provided the support I needed during the program.  The entire Nursing staff has always pushed him to be the best he can be. Each instructor has their positive attributes and has definitely been a shining example of what a nurse, and instructor, should be.

Brian loves how quiet this community is; having lived in a larger geographical area in the past, he truly enjoys the peace and quiet of our rural area in the Upper Peninsula. He loves to cook, spend time with his dog "Bryant" (funny their names are almost the same-but he adopted him at 6 years of age and couldn't change his name at that point!), go hiking and camping, read a good book and travel.