A simple invitation, a lifelong calling

“Please, just come in tomorrow and see us.”

At the time, Susan Flow ‘81N didn’t think much of such a simple request. Nearly 45 years later, she realizes it was the spark that ignited a lifetime of fulfillment and purpose.

After being accepted to the University of Rochester School of Nursing, Flow sat on her acceptance letter for weeks, unsure how she would afford to attend this program. Hoping to find a way to pursue the career she desperately wanted, she called the school directly—and soon learned she was being offered a scholarship that would change the trajectory of her career and her life.

“I put myself through my baccalaureate degree by working five jobs—you could say that I was economically challenged,” Flow recalls.

When I found out that the University was willing to extend a scholarship for me to attend their nursing program, I felt so valued. I’d never felt that way before.

“The School of Nursing acknowledged someone who essentially showed up at their doorstep, and ever since that moment, I’ve been so immensely grateful that I came into nursing under this collaborative practice model,” she says. “The School of Nursing is where I became a health care professional—what I always felt I was called to be.”

Inspired by a nurse who provided exceptional care to a family member, Flow came to nursing later than many of her peers. A self-proclaimed “late bloomer,” she had already earned a bachelor’s degree in liberal arts but had little luck finding a teaching position after graduation. She felt strongly that something greater was waiting for her.

“I wanted something more expansive, with greater interaction,” she recalls. “I had a hungry mind and it wanted to be challenged. I wanted to be able to interact effectively and in a meaningful manner wherever I was going. So, I began to explore the opportunities in nursing,” she says confidently.

With the assistance of a scholarship, Flow received her nursing degree in 1981, embarking on a career that would span more than four decades—from the medical-surgery unit, to serving as a nurse in the United States Air Force during Desert Storm, to becoming a pioneer in wound care and establishing a statewide program in her home state of Colorado.

But for Susan, who was named Denver’s 2007 Nurse of the Year, none of these accomplishments would have been possible without the foundational support she received from the University of Rochester School of Nursing. And that education might have remained only a dream without the life-changing scholarship that made her vision for a career in health care a reality.

To honor this experience—and pay her gratitude forward in a meaningful way— Susan committed to establishing the Susan A. Flow ‘81 Nursing Endowed Scholarship Fund with a bequest intention in 2011—naming the University in her estate plans as a beneficiary of her will.

“I wanted to recognize the gifts that were given to me that allowed me to go forth and to do things that made a difference for people,” she says.

My education is what allowed me to participate in the innate dance of joyful existence. And isn’t that what everyone wants?

she adds. “To be themselves and to participate in a way that makes you happy and other people happy.”

“I couldn’t have done that without this education,” she says.

Now, her generosity will live on in perpetuity, opening doors for a new generation of nurses who will have the opportunity to proudly serve others, just as she did. By including the School of Nursing in her estate plans, she is paying forward all that was afforded to her decades ago, when a School of Nursing staff member encouraged her to imagine what might be possible.

“I didn’t know how much I could leave, but I want to leave something,” Flow reflects.

“Giving back is a way to recognize what was given to me—the funds and the opportunity,” she shares. “Because there are other people out there who deserve the same chance—and we need them in this career field.”

By naming the University as a beneficiary in her estate, Susan became a member of the Wilson Society, which honors and celebrates philanthropic individuals like herself who have established life-income plans or named the University as a beneficiary.