In every walk of life there is that “What now?” moment, when academics suddenly end and, if you’re well trained, well spoken for and, well, lucky, employment just as suddenly begins.

For more than 200 students who attended the January 26 convention of the Maryland Association of Nursing Students (MANS), the answer to “What now?” is a lot more likely to be a resounding ”Success!”

The theme for the 33rd-annual event, held this year at the Homewood campus, was "Start Smart: How to Get a Job and Survive Your First Year as a Nurse." And from welcoming remarks by Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing (JHUSON) Dean Martha N. Hill, PhD, RN, FAAN, to a recruiter panel, NCLEX review panels, and a resume workshop, the focus was on removing existing roadblocks while not creating any new ones.

One JHUSON nursing student well on her way in that regard is Emily Mazurak, Fall ’13 Accel., elected community health chair at the gathering as MANS assembled its 2013-2014 board of directors. An additional highlight was a Council of School Leaders luncheon with National Student Nurses Association leaders from school chapters across the state. Trad. ’13 students Cecilia Wille, Elise Pope, Jaclyn Gaede, and Emily McWilliams represented JHUSON at the luncheon.