Full out, all in

When University of Cincinnati (UC) College of Nursing sophomore Emma Martin was deciding where to go to college, she had two non-negotiables: a dance team worth performing for and a nursing program worth working for.

"It wasn't just about dance for me," says Martin, who was recruited to the UC Bearcat Dance Team from Gilbert, AZ. "I wanted to make sure the school I was going to also had a good nursing program."

She found her answer at UC, and so did Riley Gerwel.

For Gerwel, a junior nursing student and Cincinnati native, choosing UC did not take much deliberation. Growing up in Cincinnati, she was well aware of the College of Nursing's reputation, making the dance team was just the icing on the cake.

Both students came to nursing through a similar door: a love of anatomy that lit up in high school and a desire to help people in a meaningful, hands-on way. Martin took anatomy her junior year of high school and found herself genuinely engaged. For Gerwel, it was her AP Anatomy and Physiology teacher who made the difference. "She really drew me to nursing. I loved her class and loved talking with her about different ideas of what to do in the health care field."

But the classroom is only part of the story, as the two are among only a handful of nursing students on the 30-member Bearcat Dance Team, part of UC's Spirit Squads alongside the cheer team and mascot. The UC dance team has a storied history in collegiate competition, earning seven national championships between 2004 and 2017, with much of that success rooted in hip hop. After years away from the world stage, the Bearcats are heading back.

If nursing school and competitive dance seem like an unlikely pairing, both students say the fit makes more sense than it looks from the outside.

"There's a lot of discipline required both for nursing and for dance, even though they're totally different things," Martin says. "Growing up as a dancer has really prepared me for it. You just kind of have to be dedicated to what you're pursuing and very passionate about it."

"Nursing school is very hard. I never sugarcoat that," Martin adds. "It takes a lot of dedication, a lot of hours, hard work. But for both dance and nursing, if you're not wholeheartedly passionate about it, it's a pretty hard thing to push yourself through."

That discipline is showing up in real time. Martin is equal parts nerves and excitement as she prepares to start her first clinical rotation on the ortho trauma floor at UC Medical Center. "The labs we had before clinical were really helpful. My lab instructor is really great and has helped prepare us a lot."

Gerwel, a year further along, has found a favorite clinical experience—her mental health rotation at the Center for Addiction Treatment. "It's been really interesting to talk to the patients there and just learn their life stories," she says. "I was never really considering mental health until this semester, but now I definitely would."

As they join their teammates competing in Orlando this spring, Martin and Gerwel will be managing final exams, clinical rotations, and competition routines all at once. It's exactly the kind of pressure they've been training for their whole lives, and they wouldn't have it any other way.

Feature image: Riley Gerwel (second row, third from left) and Emma Martin (third row, far right) and the UC Dance Team at the UDA College Nationals in Orlando. / Photo provided