January 20, 2026
From an early age, Emma DerGarabedian seemed destined for a career in health care.
“As a young athlete, I was overly injured and overly fascinated by injuries,” the St. John’s University senior said recently. “I was one of those kids who, if someone got hurt, I wanted to see what happened. If someone broke their arm, I wanted to see if the bone was sticking out. I was so nosy like that.”
Fast-forward more than a decade, and Emma is among the students set to graduate from the College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences’ Department of Nursing, which was established in 2022. Proud to be a member of the first cohort of St. John’s nursing graduates, she hopes to soon begin work as a professional nurse—a path she came to see as inevitable after serving as a caregiver to her aging grandparents.
“We were close, and when their health began to fail, I moved in with them,” Emma recalled. “My grandfather eventually passed, and then my grandmother’s health began to decline rapidly. Being a caregiver was a significant role for me. While it was hard, it guided my passion for what I wanted to do.”
What the Baldwin, NY, resident wanted to do was begin a path toward a career in hospital nursing. Emma intended to enroll elsewhere, initially unaware that St. John’s had resurrected its nursing program, which was discontinued after World War II.
Once Emma, now 21, recognized a chance to be part of a groundbreaking nursing initiative at St. John’s—so close to home—she was all in.
“As my grandmother became sicker, I realized I did not want to be three hours away,” Emma recalled. “St. John’s had all these resources that other schools did not, including a campus in Manhattan, NY, and locations in Paris, France, and Rome, Italy. Plus, with all of St. John’s networking opportunities, I thought it could be an ideal place for me—and it has been.”
When Emma arrived at St. John’s in the Fall of 2022, she was one of 39 first-year students from a class of 68 applicants. The number of annual applicants has since risen steadily—to nearly 2,800—with 362 students currently in the nursing program. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics expects nursing employment to grow through the next decade as the population ages, preventative care expands, and experienced nurses retire.
Emma has, of course, seen the St. John’s program evolve—from its early stages scattered among campus buildings to its state-of-the-art new home in the St. Vincent Health Sciences Center. The facility, which opened in September 2024—Emma’s junior year—features state-of-the-art classrooms and lecture halls, collaborative learning spaces designed to mimic hospital settings, and virtual reality technology to support students in their understanding of the human body.
The new facility has done more than merely providing Emma and her fellow students with a high-tech training environment. It has given them an enhanced sense of community. “Beyond the academic experience, the building has given all cohorts a better sense of connection,” she said. “Until the building opened, I did not know many students in cohorts two or three. Now, you walk around the building and see a person in red scrubs and you can strike up a conversation. You can ask if people want help. It has been nice to have that interpersonal development.”
Four years after arriving on the Queens, NY, campus, Emma has become a respected student leader and mentor to dozens of younger nursing students. She serves as both a Red Storm Athletics and College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences tutor while working as a part-time patient care assistant at the Hospital for Special Surgery in Manhattan, NY.
Patricia Esquivias, MSN, R.N., Assistant Professor/Industry Professional, Department of Nursing, has no doubt Emma will bring her trademark intellectual curiosity and commitment to detail with her when she begins her nursing career. “Emma is a highly inquisitive, persistent, and hardworking student whose enthusiasm extends beyond the classroom,” Professor Esquivias said. “That willingness to challenge ideas and not be satisfied with surface-level understanding will make her an excellent nurse. Her questions and insights prompt thoughtful discussion and reinforce the importance of curiosity, humility, and lifelong learning in nursing.”
Orthopedic nursing is an area of interest for the former three-sport athlete at Long Island Lutheran High School in Brookville, NY. So, too, is pediatric nursing. While she would prefer to remain in the New York metropolitan area, relocation is not out of the question should a worthwhile residency develop.
“I just want to be in an environment that nurtures doing it the right way and the best way,” she said.
Emma’s advice to the next generation of St. John’s nursing students is simple: Maintain your enthusiasm, even as you work hard, and keep your focus on the patients. “You have to feel some passion for the industry, whether that is a passion for a certain specialty of nursing or a passion for working with patients,” Emma said. “You must have that driving factor that makes you say I love this and I am not going to stop. If you do not love it, it is not going to work for you.”
“You also must want that patient connection,” Emma continued. “I hope wherever I am employed, it is someplace where I can make a positive impact on patients mentally and emotionally.”