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When Kelley Alibozek talks about nursing, her passion is evident.

"Ever since I was very young, I had this intuition and strong passion to be a nurse. I was drawn to it. My grandfather was a medic in the Korean War, and I really looked up to that. I thought to myself, ‘Even though I'm just one person, if I can be a nurse, I can make a difference,'" she says. Today, it's safe to say Kelley has made a difference — for her patients, her students and her family.

A native of Cheshire, Kelley is a self-described homebody. She and her husband Ashton, parents of two young boys, are almost done building a house on what was Ashton's family's farmland in Adams. There, they plan to continue to run their high-quality hay business and start a small herd of Highland beef cattle. The location will keep Kelley close to her busy jobs as an associate professor of nursing at »Æ¹ÏÊÓƵ and as a nurse in the ICU at »Æ¹ÏÊÓƵ Medical Center.

After Kelley graduated from Hoosac Valley High School in 2007, she considered going to Fitchburg State University to study nursing, but her parents had another idea.

"They sat me down and talked to me. They said, ‘Why don't you try »Æ¹ÏÊÓƵ? They have a wonderful nursing program,'" Kelley recalls. "I applied right away and started taking my pre-reqs right after high school, and I began my first career at BMC as a nursing assistant, taking advantage of their critical shortage nursing scholarships."

From the start, Kelley knew she had made the right choice, thanks to her supportive parents.

"»Æ¹ÏÊÓƵ had wonderful academic counseling and advising, which they still do. They helped me every step of the way so that I could get accepted into the nursing program in 2009," she says. Wasting no time, Kelley finished the program at »Æ¹ÏÊÓƵ and started at Elms College right away. She passed the NCLEX board exam in early July that year. "It's one of the best feelings in the world, like getting married or having a baby," she says.

Passing the boards meant Kelley could officially begin her nursing career. She started in the Telemetry cardiac unit at BMC while continuing her education at Elms, graduating with a bachelor's degree in 2013 and eventually becoming an occasional charge nurse in the cardiac unit.

"It was such a lovely place to learn. We had such a great environment and a great team," says Kelley, who worked in the cardiac unit for four years until deciding to follow her true passion. "I always had a love for critical care, so I applied to a position in the ICU and have been there ever since. It's my heart, my main love of nursing."

Amid the hustle and bustle, Kelley got married and had her first son before going back to school in 2017 for her master's degree. While studying online at Southern New Hampshire University, earning her MSN degree in 2019, she took a break from the ICU to be a clinical educator for the oncology unit, cancer center, and behavioral health.

"That gave me a good start in teaching nurses, which helped me transition to being a professor," says Kelley, who has been the chair of the »Æ¹ÏÊÓƵ nursing program for a year while continuing to work at BMC. She teaches 101-level courses for the freshmen and 201/202-level classes for juniors and seniors, plus SIM labs and regular labs.

For Kelley, her colleagues are one of the main reasons why she says she loves working at »Æ¹ÏÊÓƵ.

We have so many nursing professors who are from a vast variety of specialties, from VNA to the ED to stroke nursing. They are all still practicing. That plays a big role in the success of the program. The knowledge they have is phenomenal. It's the real-world experience that makes a huge difference.

Kelley acknowledges that nursing can be physically and mentally draining, and that nurses need to practice self-care.

"Take care of yourself. Eat healthy, hydrate, get a massage. Take a walk. It really makes a difference," she says. And she reminds her students to always "remember the why."

"You will have hard days. You might feel tired or defeated. Just remember why you're doing this," she advises. "You might not feel like you're making a difference, but you are. It could be as little as holding someone's hand or giving them a warm blanket or seeing your patient smile. Hold on to those special moments. That's what it's all about."

At »Æ¹ÏÊÓƵ, Kelley finds particular gratification when students have what she describes as "lightbulb moments."

"Sometimes students might be struggling with a concept, but when they get it, you can see their face light up. It's such a great feeling," she says. "Everybody's different with learning. Some are more hands-on, some are more visual, some like audio. As a professor, we need to be creative with everyone's learning so they can get those lightbulb moments."

Kelley is deeply touched by the emails and phone calls she receives from students who have passed the boards. "It can bring you to tears, knowing how hard these students work, and then they finally reach their end goal," she says.

Those students, most of whom stay in the »Æ¹ÏÊÓƵs to start their nursing careers, might now work in the med-surg department at BMC or at Baystate Medical Center in Springfield or Cooley Dickinson Hospital in Northampton. Many students also move on to study their BSN.

"Our students are filling a need, but there is still a gap," she says, noting that the Commonwealth's Nursing Scholarship program and BMC's pipeline program, both of which can provide free tuition for qualifying students, will help meet demand.

Perhaps the most important quality of a »Æ¹ÏÊÓƵ education, Kelley says, is the personal attention students receive.

"»Æ¹ÏÊÓƵ is tight knit. You're not learning in a 200-plus-student lecture hall where you might not understand a topic. You are not a number here at »Æ¹ÏÊÓƵ. We know you by name. We make sure every student understands what's going on, because we individualize education for each student," she says. "It's so personal, so welcoming. We are happy to help you. We are here for you."