Katheryn Soons uses three nursing degrees to excel in a lifelong career of helping others
Katheryn Soons has been around health care her whole life. In high school, she worked at her father’s ophthalmologist office and surgery center and in college, she volunteered with the fire and rescue squad. It was only natural that she pursued a career in health care, and for the past 29 years, she has worked in various capacities at the University of Vermont Medical Center. During that time, she has earned associate and bachelor’s degrees in nursing from Excelsior College. She completed a master’s degree in nursing education in December 2020.
The oldest of six girls in an Irish-Catholic family, Soons was encouraged to “branch out.” She was nervous about leaving home, but her father suggested she attend the same school he had, Saint Michael’s College. That decision put her on a lifelong path of helping others. At 19, she joined the Saint Michael’s College Fire and Rescue where she became an advanced EMT, which she has been for 32 years. She also began working in the poison control center in the University of Vermont Medical Center’s emergency room. Her goal was to become an ER nurse, but she needed more schooling for that. Soons and a group of coworkers heard about Excelsior’s online programs and decided it was the best opportunity to pursue their RNs.
The University of Vermont Medical Center is also a corporate partner of Excelsior, which factored into Soons’ initial decision to enroll. Referring to the tuition discount that comes with her employment at the Medical Center, she says, “It takes the edge off.” She continued to receive discounted tuition during her pursuit of the master’s but notes since she is works part-time, she does not receive the full reimbursement. To compensate, she applied for and was awarded a critical care nursing scholarship that honors the life of a former ICU patient.
After she earned her associate degree in nursing in 2008, Soons became a nurse in the surgical ICU at the University of Vermont Medical Center. It was a good fit for her personality, but even though she was happy in the ICU, she decided to return to school again for her bachelor’s and earned that degree in June 2019. It was perfect timing, too, because the hospital was beginning to pursue magnet status and encouraged all nurses to achieve the bachelor’s-prepared level.
Now Soons is on pace to earn her master’s in nursing education in late 2020. “It’s very clear what you need to do to earn a good grade,” says Soons, “I have a routine with Excelsior. I can map out my term and say on this week I need to start preparing for that paper that’s due at the end of the term.” Soons says the coursework has been rigorous, but the instructors are accessible and supportive if she ever has any questions, or if she needs an extra day. She says, “They recognize that many of us are working while we’re going to school and if you’re reasonable and you say, ‘this is what I can do, this is how much I have done’—they’ve been very kind and understanding.”
The discussion boards have been a highlight of Soons’ time with Excelsior. Having only worked and spent her adult life in Vermont, Soons admits she has one way of thinking, and so she appreciates the broad views and personal perspectives from others she comes across while in her courses. “When I’m on the discussion board, I’m with people from all over the all over the world,” she says, “So, it’s been great to be exposed to so many different types of nursing. And I find that really has enriched my educational experience.”
Soons works part-time with the clinical emergencies response team and per diem in the adult surgical and pediatric ICU at the University of Vermont Medical Center, which demands nursing expertise across the life span. She works two 12-hour shifts a week, and because the schedule can be demanding on her physically and mentally, she has developed a system for self-care. Soons oftentimes wakes early to take a swim to keep her back and brain healthy, she says, and only drinks one cup of coffee per shift. Fridays are spent with her grandson exclusively, and Sundays, Monday night, and Tuesday night are saved for homework.
Soons’ dream is to teach. She’s already dipped her toes into the pool, too, because she taught EMT training as adjunct faculty for five years and since 1991 as temporary faculty at the University of Vermont. She knows Excelsior’s master’s in nursing program will help her become a better teacher and already has some feelers out for a new teaching position. She says she owes it to her degrees for getting her this far and adds that she has become a better nurse because of what she’s learned. “There are things I’ve learned in the last three years in the bachelor’s in nursing program that were not included in the associate program, and these are the things I think make me a better nurse—things like research, quality, theory—things that you might kind of roll your eyes at, but there’s something to be said for this stuff.”
“You put yourself in the right place; you never know what can happen,” advises Phyllis Wilson. And this three-time Excelsior graduate can rightfully back up this claim. Currently, the president of the Military Women’s Memorial in Arlington, Virginia, retired Chief Warrant Officer 5 Wilson has an impressive 37-year military career, seven college degrees, a registered nurse credential, eight children, and 12 grandchildren.
With the goal of becoming a doctor, Wilson started her college career at a local community college following high school, the first in her family to pursue higher education. But due to limited financial resources, she could only afford one or two courses at a time. “I realized that I was two and a half years into it, and I didn’t even have one year of college finished and I thought this is going to take forever—there’s got to be a better way,” she recalls. And as fate would have it, she passed an Army recruiting station that was promoting college tuition benefits.
Wilson signed up, expecting to serve a four-year enlistment, yet discovered military service resonated with her. “There was something about the military that was a perfect fit,” she explains. “I just love the teamwork and the travel—the incredible sights, scenes, sounds, and foods that I probably would have never been exposed to had I not raised my right hand and said I’m willing to join the military.”
She began her Army career as a Military Intelligence German linguist voice intercept operator. During her active and reserve service, she held roles ranging from tactical to strategic with duty in Germany, Iraq, and the United States. She mobilized to support Operation Desert Shield/Operation Desert Storm and served as the signals intelligence collection manager for XVIII Airborne Corps, Fort Bragg, North Carolina. Wilson also supported Operation Enduring Freedom as a senior counterterrorism analyst and deployed twice to Iraq with a highly specialized Joint Special Operations Task Force, whose objective was the capture of Osama Bin Laden.
Military tuition benefits launched her educational career, covering the costs of three of her degrees. She earned the first, an associate degree, while living in Germany. She earned an LPN certificate stateside with the goal of joining her husband in Germany and working at the local military hospital. When that didn’t work out as planned, she took a position at a credit union, which offered tuition benefits as well. She observes, “Life throws you curve balls, and you’ve got to learn to swing.”
And Wilson is pragmatic about those curve balls in her life. “I would much rather have failed trying to do something than regret that I never tried. Because when I’m much older, I don’t want to regret that I didn’t even try for it.”
Failure wasn’t an option when Wilson attended the Army’s airborne school. “I was not coming back to an airborne unit without those wings,” she says about earning her Parachutist Badge. “You find a way to get through. It truly is mental. There is so much your body can do for you, but sometimes you think you can’t. But if your mind tells you that you can, you can!”
Now as the leader of the Military Women’s Memorial, the nation’s only major national memorial to honor all women who have defended the nation from the Revolutionary War until the present, Wilson continues her service in a civilian role. “Everything I’ve done in the military, God’s path, has prepared me to do exactly what I’m doing here [at the Memorial] I love this job!”
A parking lot encounter is another example of finding herself in the right place, one that prompted Wilson to apply for the Military Women’s Memorial position. “I didn’t want to be associated with a military women’s anything,” she explains. “I was a soldier, not a woman soldier.” But after being confronted by a man who questioned her right to use a specially marked veteran’s parking spot, she rethought the opportunity. He asked Wilson if her husband was with her, incorrectly assuming only a man could be a veteran. Biting her tongue, this Army Women’s Foundation Hall of Fame member calmly explained that she was indeed entitled to use the spot. She explains, “Goodness, how many more women have to wear a uniform to serve this country before they’re recognized? Situations like this are happening to other women too and somebody has to champion them. Why not me?”
Wilson earned her seventh college degree—her third at Excelsior—in June 2021. She used her Master in Public Administration capstone course to explore the Memorial’s organizational construct. Throughout her Excelsior studies, earning a BS in Liberal Studies in 1988 and a BS in Nursing in 2010, she enjoyed the College’s flexible approach to learning and its military savviness. Based on her personal experience at other colleges and universities, she observes, “There weren’t a lot of colleges and universities that were nearly as helpful as Excelsior in finding those additional credits.” The College, she says, is a good fit for military students. “They get it, they know what an ACE guide looks like, they know what a joint service transcript is, and they can help you get maximum credit,” she explains.
As a recent graduate student working on her second master’s degree, she cites access to a world-class library and the collaboration with her fellow students as hallmarks of her experience. Noting the importance of self-improvement, she says, “higher education is a great way to demonstrate that you’re trying to be the best possible employee, whether in uniform or out of uniform.” Learn more about Excelsior College’s Liberal Arts degrees.
Artist blends technology, research, and talent to create a work of historic proportions
Artist Len Tantillo used digital techniques to set the stage for his painting. A digital model of one of the characters (shown on the right-hand monitor) was used to help breathe life into the final painted character (as seen on the detail provided on the left-hand monitor). Photo: Mike Hemberger
This article was originally published in Live & Learn Magazine, Vol. 14, No. 1, in 2011.
Blending present-day technology with traditional artistic techniques, artist Len Tantillo brings history to life in his many paintings. Much like Excelsior College’s use of technology to deliver educational opportunities to students, Tantillo has embraced digital modeling in conjunction with conventional painting techniques to offer rich depictions of the past.
In 2011, Excelsior President John Ebersole commissioned Tantillo to create a historical work in honor of the College’s 40th anniversary. The artist, widely known for his insightful research to create deeply perceptive historical works, was challenged by the task. Forty years, after all, is not that old in a historical sense, and Excelsior doesn’t have stately, ivy-covered brick buildings on its campus that might create an obvious artistic backdrop. Tantillo explained the conundrum, “Excelsior isn’t a place. Excelsior is an idea. So, how do you paint an idea?”
“That refrain of a college without walls kept kind of echoing in my head. You know, education, but not in a specific place” –Len Tantillo
A skilled researcher, Tantillo started with his own instincts and imagination. His first thoughts were along the lines of itinerant professionals and doctors who made house calls. He thought, “I wonder how many other services like that there could have been?” With the seed planted, he began his exploration. “That refrain of a college without walls kept kind of echoing in my head. You know, education, but not in a specific place,” he recalled.
Two Movements Spark an Idea
His investigation began simply, with keywords such as education, history, and night school and uncovered results that helped frame the concept from which the work, Keeping a Tradition Alive, was born. Tantillo learned of two educational endeavors — The American Lyceum and the Chautauqua Movement — that spoke to the roots of non-traditional education, historical forebears to the innovative idea that became Excelsior College.
Much like Excelsior brings education to students, rather than the students coming to a physical classroom, the American Lyceum Movement featured traveling educators. Yale graduate Josiah Holbrook founded the movement in the mid-1820s, traveling across the eastern U.S. to promote the concept of education for adult learners. Initially aimed at farmers, the lyceums by the 1840s had become more professional institutions with lectures from famous intellectuals such as Ralph Waldo Emerson, Frederick Douglass, Henry David Thoreau, Daniel Webster, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Susan B. Anthony.
Tantillo recalled sharing his concept with President Ebersole. “We started talking about this idea of the American Lyceum and I made a sketch right on the spot” (shown below). The artist envisioned a small, diverse group of people, gathered in a cornfield at night, after their work was done, much like the working adults who make up Excelsior’s average student. “It was this idea of nighttime and glowing light and engaged individuals participating in some sort of educational event,” he added.
Keeping a Tradition Alive by Len Tantillo, 2011, Oil on Canvas, Collection of Excelsior College, 24 x 40 in.
Lyceums flourished until the outbreak of the Civil War. Following the war, they blended into New York State’s Chautauqua Movement of the 1870s. The original Chautauqua Lake Sunday School Assembly in western New York, founded in 1874 by John H. Vincent and Lewis Miller, began as a program for the training of Sunday-school teachers and church workers. At first entirely religious in nature and held outdoors, the program gradually broadened to include general education, recreation, lifelong learning, and popular entertainment. In later years, the summer lectures and classes were supplemented by a year-round, non-denominational course of directed home reading and correspondence study.
Stage is Set: Modeling Begins
With the concept for the work in hand, Tantillo was ready to plan the scope of the piece. With a degree in architecture from the Rhode Island School of Design, he began his career as an architectural designer and later worked as a freelance architectural illustrator. A commission to depict a series of 19th-century structures from archaeological artifacts and historical documents in 1980 was the genesis of his historical painting career, and in 1984, he left commercial art altogether to work full time in fine art. Yet his architectural background serves as a foundation on which to build his art, as he often creates models as a reference. When his work depicts events that predate photography, these models afford him a means to recreate history based on his research.
His early structural models were made out of cardboard, paper, and cloth, and he often used human models as well. Finding appropriate costumes for his subjects could prove challenging, sometimes requiring that he sew the meticulously researched attire himself. But about 10 years ago, he added computer modeling to his art box. Using the 3-D modeling and graphics software Rhino and Maya, he can create not only the setting for a piece, but individuals and their clothing as well. “The computer allows me to take a human form, manipulate the facial features, create hair styles and clothing,” he described.
The Excelsior-commissioned work took Tantillo approximately five months to create, and a large part of that time was devoted to perfecting the computer-generated model. “It’s a tremendously powerful tool,” he said of the software. “It allows me to go places I could never go before. The subjects were just too complex. But now that I have these skills to do the digital modeling, it has expanded my horizons tremendously.” Once the digital work was done, Tantillo could begin the process of putting brush to canvas, marrying technology and tradition to produce a timeless piece of artistic beauty and historic significance.
The Painting: An Idea Takes Shape
The painting captures both the rural roots of adult education in America, as well as the spirit of the extraordinarily committed educators who traveled from community to community to share their knowledge.
This early form of night school portrays education being delivered to working adults. The many lanterns in the scene symbolize the flame or lamp of knowledge, and the promise inherent in education to bring students out of the darkness and into the light. Those depicted in this painting represent the forebears of Excelsior students today — adults of all ages, veterans and active military, ethnic minorities, men and women, and, most prominently, a nurse, who, carrying a lantern, evokes the image of Florence Nightingale. Given that Excelsior College has the largest nursing program in the country, it is appropriate that she is in the foreground.
A trunk with the name “R.E. Bennett” inscribed on its side sits on the ground, next to the instructor’s wagon (detail below). Tantillo added this detail in homage to an educator who helped light his interest in history. “Robert Bennett was my favorite history teacher, my favorite teacher of all time,” he explained. Bennett’s enthusiasm for history made a lasting impression on the artist. He added, “When you went into his class, you didn’t know what the lesson was going to be, but you knew it was going to be exciting and interesting. And he always made you think about it; he would try to take you back into the world at that time.”
The work, Keeping a Tradition Alive, illustrates lessons learned from a time when formal American adult education was in its infancy. The torch has been passed, from the American Lyceum movement to Excelsior College and others. As the College celebrates four decades of providing educational opportunities to working adults, it is important to not forget those who blazed a trail, and thanks to the artistic vision of Len Tantillo, it will always be remembered. What does Tantillo hope people will take away from this work? “The idea, at the most ground level, that people’s desire to learn is universal and timeless. If the desire is strong enough, you’ll make time to do it.”
