Brittany, Sarah, and Rachel Krawiec
CHICAGO (January 5, 2016) — At North Park University’s recent Winter Commencement, one poster in the university’s crowded gymnasium stood out. Sitting in the risers, Antoni Krawiec held up a hand painted sign reading, “All my sisters are RNs.”
Among the graduates marching in were three of Antoni’s four sisters—a set of triplets, Brittany, Rachel, and Sarah—each of whom received a bachelor of science in nursing.
The sisters completed the entire program together, following in the footsteps of their older sister, Jennifer Krawiec, who graduated from North Park’s nursing program in May 2014. “Our parents strongly encouraged us to pursue a degree where we had the promise to a lifelong career,” the sisters said in an email. “We were unsure if nursing was the right fit for all of us until we entered the nursing program. We each found an area that we wholeheartedly enjoyed and know throughout the years our passion will continue to grow.”
The four sisters’ studies at North Park overlapped, but they don’t seem to mind all the togetherness. “We’re a really close family in general,” said Sarah. “It’s been great to spend this time together.”
Helene K. Pochopien, assistant professor of nursing, had the triplets together in a class and called them “top performers” and “a joy to have as students.” She described how the three rose to the challenge in a difficult class, where they “scored almost identically, but missed different test questions.”
Academics weren’t the only challenge for the Krawiec family, who live in suburban Niles, Ill., and had five kids in college at once. “There was one car for the four girls attending North Park,” said their mother, Tracy Krawiec. “When they had to go to different locations, it was stressful.”
But at the triplets’ graduation, Tracy said she was overjoyed. For one thing, she’ll no longer have multiple kids in college. But she’s also thrilled for what’s ahead for the triplets, who are all working at Skokie Hospital as patient care technicians. “They’re guaranteed nursing jobs as soon as they take their NCLEX exam,” Tracy said.
After graduating from North Park, Jennifer got her first job at Skokie Hospital, and the younger sisters decided they wanted to follow suit. They enjoy the uniquely community-oriented, family-friendly environment of the hospital. Through their clinicals, the triplets got to know the staff, and eventually they all landed jobs in different units. Brittany works on the medical surgical floor, Rachel on stroke/tele, Sarah in the emergency department. After passing one more certification, the younger three plan to pursue nursing roles at the hospital, like their sister, Jennifer, who works as an RN in the orthopedic unit.
Equipped with BSNs, the sisters are ready to begin their careers serving at Skokie Hospital.
The sisters like working at a small hospital, where they sometimes float to each other’s units or work the same shifts. They currently live at home in Niles, but they’re planning to move together somewhere closer to the hospital. Despite all the similarities in their lives, they do differ when it comes to nursing specialties. “We don’t intend on working in the same units,” said Rachel, “because we don’t like the same things in the field of nursing.”
North Park’s School of Nursing and Health Sciences, which teaches a caring philosophy grounded in faith, is among the University’s most popular departments. At this graduation ceremony, nearly a third of the undergraduate degrees conferred were in nursing. The Krawiec sisters say the people at North Park were the highlight—staff and students who shaped their outlooks and one-to-one interaction with professors in small classes. “We’re excited to graduate,” said Sarah. “This is an amazing program, and we think we’re going to become amazing nurses because of it.”
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