Alumna with strong family ties to AU starts new job teaching nursing students
When Jillian (Shultz) Robinson says that Ashland University has been as important to her as family, she really means it.
More than 20 family members are alumni; a grandfather, John Shultz, was even president of Ashland Theological Seminary, a graduate division of AU, from 2006 to 2016; and she met her husband at the university.
“I love the family ties I have with the university,” said Robinson, who graduated in 2015. “It is really special to think about all of the generations of my family that have walked the same halls.
“Another memory was being able to graduate with my twin sister,” she added. “It was so special to be able to experience college together.”
Robinson is the only one in the generations of her family with Ashland ties to earn a nursing degree from the university.
Her latest job during her nine-year nursing career is as a nursing instructor for Massillon City Schools Career Technical Education – a position that is already starting to feel like family, too.
“My new job at Massillon is going so well, I feel at home there,” Robinson said. “I am surrounded by such a supportive group of educators and leaders, all are making my transition into the classroom seamless. I am co-teaching with a nurse who has been teaching in the program for six years and feel so thankful to be able to learn and grow alongside her.
“My students have left me speechless more times than I can count, they are intelligent, have so much self-awareness and are just KIND people,” she added. “I am enjoying sharing my love for nursing with them but also enjoying learning from them as well - my students are wise beyond their years.”
Going to clinicals, shadowing at local hospitals and obtaining health care certifications are some of the things Robinson will help her students achieve.
“I feel so fortunate to have been able to join an already successful program,” said Robinson, who was a clinical instructor at the University of Akron previously for two years, as well as an ER nurse in Akron for the majority of her nursing career where she still works PRN (as needed). “I am really looking forward to being able to share my passion of nursing with the students. I hope they can see and feel my passion for the career, and I hope it ignites something similar for them.”
Her two years as a clinical instructor at Akron helped her realize how much she loves teaching and how much potential for growth there is for her in that role. She is working toward a teaching licensure.
“Honestly, teaching high school students is pretty similar to working as a nurse because you just really never know what you’re going to get,” Robinson said with a laugh. “Just when you think you have a plan and are feeling confident, something throws a wrench in your plan - you just have to learn to go with it and know it will all work out.”
Having a supportive family also helps her “know it will all work out,” not only with teaching, but also with still working in an emergency department, going back to school for her teacher license and trying to be the best mom she can to her two daughters, Elyse, 2, and Lola, 1.
“I am definitely not doing it alone and feel really thankful to have a supportive husband who has always encouraged me to challenge myself,” Robinson said. “I am even more thankful to have a village of family and friends that help keep our world go round.”
The same was true when Robinson was working her way through nursing school at Ashland University. She said the smaller class sizes allowed her to get so much more out of her classes and labs and create more of a connection with her professors. Getting to know her professors and friends like they were family helped Robinson survive nursing school, she said.
“It was one of the more challenging things I’ve accomplished, and I am so proud of myself for it,” Robinson said. “The friends you make in nursing school are a different type of friend. They single-handedly helped get me through. From labs to clinicals and watching my classmates becoming influential leaders in health care today is so amazing.”
Her nursing classmates can say the same about the newest nursing instructor for Massillon City Schools Career Technical Education.