While new to the high school, school nurse Julianne Pepin worked for multiple years at Robinson Elementary School prior to joining the Westford Academy staff. With two children of her own and plenty of experience in the medical field, she is excited to work at WA and help students throughout their high school career.
Q: Why did you want to be a school nurse?
A: I’ve been a nurse for a long time. A couple of years ago, I wanted to see what being a school nurse was like, so I started subbing in schools to see if I’d like it. I did, and then a couple of years ago, I started full time.
Q: Why did you choose to work at Westford Academy?
A: Well, I worked two years at Robinson School, which is with little children, and I loved it. But I thought I would like working with teens, so when this position opened up, I interviewed for it.
Q: Why do you find teenagers easier to work with?
A: I like the fact that they can advocate for themselves, where you don’t have to always talk to parents. Although, you still talk to parents because they’re teenagers, but they’d be able to tell me what they are experiencing.
Q: How has your time at the school been so far?
A: It’s been really great. I’m learning the ropes here each day, and I’m learning something different about the protocol and what’s going on. For example, the drill that we did we had to have a command center set up just in case somebody got hurt during all of that.
Q: What was your own high school experience like?
A: I loved high school and I would love to go back to it. I played a lot of sports and kept busy. I am an advocate for teens staying busy, doing clubs, anything that you can get involved with after school. That’s the best way to keep yourself out of trouble and keep yourself busy.
Q: What was your experience like in your previous jobs?
A: I’ve been a nurse for over 25 years. It has been a long time and I have worked at many hospitals and in many positions. I worked as a float nurse, meaning anyone that called out sick, I can go cover their shift. So I worked in the intensive care units, in the operating rooms, in the emergency rooms, or a regular floor.
Q: How does that job compare to your current job?
A: It’s very different because it’s a hospital setting. Here, obviously kids can be sick, but there, it’s to the extreme, so it’s very different. You’d have certain number of patients for a day, whereas here, the goal is to keep students in school. We can see a ton [of students] in a day but they’re not staying with me all day.
Q: How would you say your first job influenced your current position?
A: My first job was life guarding. We did have to do CPR and first aid, but I don’t think that really led me to the medical field. I don’t know what made me go into the nursing field, but my family were mostly teachers and police officers, while I went the other way into the medical field. I started volunteering at a hospital, and didn’t get to do a ton, but I got to see some stuff and then I just went down that path.
Q; What can students expect when entering the nurses office?
A: I hope they find that it’s welcoming here, and that anyone can come if they need to see us. Our goal is to get people back to class, it shouldn’t be the hangout to escape tests, but I do want students to feel comfortable coming in here.
Q: Do you have any hobbies or special interests outside of your job?
A: I have two children, so they keep me busy. My hobbies are limited, time wise, but I love to read, I love to go on walks, but mostly it’s watching my kids play sports.
Q: Do you have any advice for the students here?
A: Study hard; it’s important, but I think making memories with friends and having fun also is important. You know, you’re gonna make mistakes, but have fun.
