Grace Streck fondly remembers the care – and the caring – she received at age 14 when she was a patient at Dayton Children’s Hospital.

She was treated there eight years ago while battling a serious leg infection.

“I had to stay a few days to get some antibiotics,” Streck remembers. “I met some really great nurses.”

That experience helped inspire her to become a nurse herself.

Now, she’s been hired full time at the children’s hospital after an honor-filled senior year in the Bachelor’s of Science in Nursing program at Indiana University East.

“I accepted a position in the pediatric intensive care unit. I am very excited,” she said. “I can’t wait to focus on work.”

She was excited, too, to be awarded Outstanding BSN Student during IU East’s Honors Convocation on April 18.

“It was very special to me,” said Streck, who is from Brookville, Ohio. “I am honored that is how my nursing professors and faculty saw me.”

Streck said she put in the work, studied hard and received strong grades, but so did many of her fellow students.

I was very surprised because a lot of other people could have gotten that (honor).”

She also was given an award as an Honors Program Graduate during the convocation.

She will have a large following in attendance for Commencement – her parents, sister, husband and about 15 others from Preble County, Ohio.

The new job will allow her to remain in Brookville with her husband, Colton, who is a canine police officer.

“It’s a great place to live,” Grace Streck said. “We plan to stay in that area.”

She also plans to eventually start a graduate program in nursing and possibly work in an administrative position.

Streck is thankful for the variety of nursing experiences she gained while attending IU East. Those included working as a patient care assistant at the children’s hospital and doing a capstone rotation from January to April this year at Miami Valley Hospital in Dayton.

The experiences included taking part in a one-week trip to work with the unhoused and other struggling people in Detroit.

“I fell in love with how you can help people,” she said. “I really feel I grew personally and professionally.”

She wrote her senior thesis about the mental-health effects of pediatric homelessness.

Streck visited IU East and other bigger nursing programs – and did a lot of online research – before deciding to attend IU East because of its smaller size, its lower costs and its strong reputation:

“I really had opportunities to build relationships. I will miss it a lot,” she said. “We have a lot of different opportunities than other schools I’ve talked to.”

Those opportunities included trips to Nashville, Tenn., and Orlando, Florida for conferences with the National Student Nurses Association.

“The School of Nursing pays for us to go, which is amazing,” said Streck, who served her senior year as president.