The 2012 graduating class of the Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing has achieved 100 percent participation in its senior class gift campaign, an annual fund-raising effort. The funds will support need-based scholarships at the school.

This marks the first time a senior class at the school has achieved 100 percent participation, says Jamie Tinker 12N, senior class president and chairman of the senior class gift committee. The nursing graduating class has 99 bachelor’s-degree students.

“Members of the class voted on what we wanted to support through our senior gift campaign and the majority chose need-based scholarships,” Tinker says. “Many of us have received some sort of financial aid and we felt it was important to give back and to provide assistance for future students so they could have the same opportunities we’ve had.”

Tinker is a second-degree student who earned a bachelor’s degree in management information systems and worked in the information technology field for 14 years before enrolling at the Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing.

“I have always been interested in health care, and when my nephew was born at 27 weeks, I spent a lot of time in the NICU (neonatal intensive care unit). I really became interested in the field and applied to Emory because of its reputation as one of the best nursing schools in the country,” he says.

Tinker will graduate May 14 and begin a job in the NICU at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, where he served an externship.

“It has been a very gratifying experience. I can’t wait to be a nurse and to be able to give back to the community,” he says.

The achievement coincides with National Nurses’ Week, which is May 6 through 12. This year’s theme is “Nurses: Advocating, Leading, and Caring.”