TOMS RIVER, N.J. – One hundred eighteen (118) students from the Ocean County College Nursing Class were honored at the annual Nurses’ Pinning Ceremony on Wednesday, May 20 at the RWJBarnabas Health Arena in Toms River. The graduates successfully completed a two-year course of study leading to an Associate in Applied Science degree in Nursing during the fall of 2025 (55 graduates) and spring of 2026 (63 graduates).
“The pinning ceremony is a nursing school tradition,” said Dr. Teresa Walsh, dean of OCC’s School of Nursing and Health Sciences. “It represents your transition from role of student to registered nurse.”
The tradition of pinning originally dates back to the 1860s, when Florence Nightingale was presented with a medal for her service as a military nurse. Later, Nightingale in turn rewarded her own nursing students with medals as a symbol of their hard work and dedication. Over the years, these medals have been replaced with pins that identify the nursing school the students attended. The Ocean County College School of Nursing continues this tradition by presenting each graduating nurse with a pin that represents the completion of OCC’s nursing program.
“Wear your pin proudly, so those you care for know you have graduated from this well-respected nursing program,” Dean Walsh told the graduates.
Dr. Pamela Monaco, president of Ocean County College, also addressed the class. “Today, we celebrate these graduating students’ years of incredible dedication and hard work, and plant a milestone that marks the beginning of their professional careers,” she said. “For us, it is also an opportunity to recognize their outstanding accomplishments as graduates of the rigorous nursing education program here at Ocean County College, as well as our chance to be among the first to welcome them as they enter their new profession.”
More than $33,000 in scholarships and awards were presented to the nursing graduates during the ceremony, which was televised live on ocean.edu and on Ocean TV-20 via Comcast Channel 20 and Verizon FiOS of Northern Ocean County Channel 24. Repeat broadcasts will be available throughout the remainder of the month. For more information, please visit go.ocean.edu/graduation.
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Ocean County College Nursing Graduates
Nursing Class of Fall 2025
Samantha Backle ● Janet Ballard ● Erin Barrett ● Julia Brooks ● Nicole Brooks ● Tailur Brooks ● Madison Brown ● Lindsay Brozyna ● Roxanne Canfield ● Hannah Carter ● Leticia Castillo-Torres ● Sky Cavanaugh ● Woo Choi ● Edith Conde Sustaita ● Kiranpree Darcy ● Kimberly De La Torre ● Daniella DeConde ● Korrine DiBuono ● Victoria Difilippo ● Yozeyda Espinoza ● Victoria Favale ● Jordan Festa ● Haleigh Fitzpatrick ● Christine Giattino ● Catherine Gottfried ● Christopher Graf ● Jordan Granger ● Destini Hand ● Amanda Harlan ● Quinn Hartdorn ● Isabella Hinton ● Steven Humphrey ● Leah Josephs ● Colleen Kelly ● Alexa Kilfara ● Mary Leriche ● Chinaecherem Mbaeri ● Katie McGivern ● Zuleyma Nieto-Castaneda ● Carly Peckham ● Carolin Perez ● Monica Petyo ● Natasha Ramdeen ● Sylvia Reeves ● Amanda Robbins ● Irina Rockwell ● Kara Rotondo ● Savannah Salamone ● Nicole Scott ● Melissa Stowe ● Sydney Tornquist ● Emily Trapasso ● Rachel Ushock ● Natalia Vrskova ● Briana Warren ●
Nursing Class of Spring 2026
Madison Appleby ● John Barbieri ● Nicholle Barcalow ● Brittany Canino ● Jenna Cannon ● Adriana Chacon ● Gabriella Chinappi ● Alexa Claeys ● Mikayla Colonnello ● Jasmine Cornejo ● Erin Counihan ● Aliyah Cunningham ● Hayly Cupolo ● Jennie Davis ● Nathaniel Davis ● Kourtney Dietrich ● Karen Dillon ● Aleece Errico ● Sabrina Faist ● Kathryn Farias ● Kathaleena Fish ● Brittany Flynn ● Cheyenne Frake ● Silvia Ghaly ● Alexa Giordano ● Kaitlyn Gioxaris ● Jared Grady ● Skylar Griffin ● Lynez Harris ● Jacqueline Hay ● Brian Henningsen ● Colleen Hill ● Dannielle Johns ● Renee Kleniewski ● Karl Lambert ● Kimberly Lamparello ● Raquel Lopez ● Moseley Louis ● Daniela Madriz ● Takeira Mayweather ● Digiana Mejia ● Teresa Motisi ● Allison Mullaney ● Sarah Nuber ● Katherine Pellino ● Patrick Telly Pueyo ● Samantha Puff ● Amanda Reid ● Hailey Remizowski ● Amy Rempfer ● Irving Robles ● Christina Rodriquez ● Karli Romano ● Dominque Salazar ● Nidia Sarpong ● Jeffrey Sommer ● Kathleen Sweeney ● Ciarra Sweet ● Anthony Trapasso ● Carolina Valderrama ● Ashlee Waugh ● Noelle Westpy ● Shirley Zeng ●
About Ocean County College
For 60 years, Ocean County College, a public two-year community college sponsored by Ocean County and the State of New Jersey, has provided area residents with the opportunity to benefit from higher education. OCC is an innovative academic leader offering affordable, student-centered, high-quality educational experiences that empower diverse learners to achieve their goals while enriching the communities we serve. Learn more at ocean.edu.