Mandy (Muncy, ’14) Blain is accustomed to busy and chaotic environments. Between her chosen career as an ER nurse and her home life as a mother of three children under the age of 5, she’s pretty much always on the go.
Her time as an OKWU student wasn’t much different. Blain was a nursing major, which is busy enough for most students, and she was also a significant contributor to OKWU’s volleyball team during her collegiate career.
After growing up in North Texas, Blain was hopeful that she would be able to pursue college volleyball. The coach of her club team had a connection to OKWU, and Blain was given a tryout in Bartlesville. OKWU was unique among some of the other colleges Blain was considering because they were willing to let her play volleyball and enroll in the nursing program, which wasn’t possible at other places due to the high workload on nursing majors.
After her tryout, OKWU’s coach prayed with Blain and her parents. This simple act made Blain feel that OKWU was the right fit for her. When she got the call a few weeks later offering her a spot on the team, Blain accepted right away.
Life at OKWU
For Blain, the call to nursing was one that she’d felt for a while. Always a willing listener with a heart for the needs of others, Blain knew that nursing would be a challenging program, especially with her volleyball responsibilities.
Blain is open about the struggles she faced as a student at OKWU. With multiple hours of practice each day on top of her studies, it wasn’t always an easy path. Sometimes, she wondered whether she was making the right choice to study nursing.
One obstacle to getting into the nursing program was a prerequisite microbiology course, taught by Dr. Doug Quick at the time.
Blain remembers meeting with Quick in his office, where he prayed with her and offered help.
“I don’t know if he would even see it as something super impactful,” she said, “but if he wouldn’t have helped me, I wouldn’t have ever passed microbiology and would have never gotten into the nursing program.”
Other memories immediately come to mind for Blain when she thinks of her OKWU experience. As a student, she met her husband, Andrew (‘13), and developed lifelong friendships. She lived her dream of playing college volleyball, putting together an impressive career that included over 1,000 kills and more than 1,500 digs. She remembers returning to campus late after away games when their bus driver, Dean Mills, would circle the roundabout on campus multiple times, honking the horn to celebrate a big win.
“It might be like 2:00 in the morning,” she said. “Those are memories that I have carried with me.”
ten years of nursing
Although some academic struggles had Blain re-do a year of nursing school, she eventually graduated in 2014 with her nursing degree. During school, she completed an externship at Jane Phillips Medical Center in Bartlesville, working in the emergency room. She continued to work there as her schedule allowed during her final year of college.
After graduating and passing the NCLEX exam, Blain was hired by Jane Phillips to continue full-time. She has remained there ever since, working for 10 years in the ER. In many ways, her stressful and chaotic college experience was the ideal training for ER work. The stress she overcame is an essential part of her story.
“It took me three times to pass my NCLEX to become a nurse,” she said. “I thought those were the worst days of my life.”
But, she notes, God saw her through the storm. That’s a theme she holds to throughout her life. When COVID hit in 2020, it was just another storm that God helped her sail through. To be in the ER for 10 years is no small feat, and Blain has seen many nurses come and go in her time.
“It’s funny to me that now I’m this nurse that people look up to,” she said. “In my head, I still think of myself as this baby nurse.”
With God’s provision and her own determination, Blain is living the dream she felt way back as a high school student, serving others in their time of need by being a nurse who listens and cares for her patients. She is a shining example of what OKWU’s Department of Nursing is all about: the foundation of Christ and His ministry to heal individuals, communities, and nations.
Mandy and Andrew Blain live in Bartlesville with their three children: Harper (5), Hudson (3), and Hawkins (1). She will be honored at Homecoming 2024.
