HOPEWELL, Va. -- Bryant & Stratton College helped to honor Syvie Robertson, a Hopewell nursing student who died January 1 of complications from COVID-19.
Robertson was a Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) studying to become a Registered Nurse (RN). The 51-year-old mother would have graduated this spring.
Robertson worked with COVID-19 patients at a long-term care facility and contracted the virus over Christmas.
"She had a passion for caring for others, for caring for people," Robertson's mother Mona Terry said. "She would have made an awesome, awesome Registered Nurse."
Campus Director Beth Murphy said Robertson was well-known for her commitment to her education and her profession.
"Syvie could have said, 'No, I'm no longer going to work.' But, she didn't do that and what a model for other students to truly see and understand what it takes to be a nurse," Murphy, Campus Director, Bryant & Stratton College said.
The school presented Robertson's family with an honorary degree and nursing pin.
"She had worked so hard," her mom said. "It was something that she desired to do with all her heart."
Terry, a retired nurse herself, said her daughter paid the ultimate price for her commitment to her job to help others. She said she was proud of her for that and applauded the entire medical profession for working during the pandemic.
"All of the nurses and doctors. All the medical staff, housekeepers, all of them for sticking and staying during a very critical time in our country," she said.
Bryant & Stratton College said it would continue to honor Robertson with a scholarship to be awarded to LPNs working to becoming RNs. The school hopes to issue the first scholarship in September.
