Love is in the Air at the Pomeroy College of Nursing

There’s a quote by an unknown author that says: “A shared passion is a powerful bond.” For newlyweds Ayah and Sam Ashkar, that passion is nursing.

Sam is a second-year student at the Pomeroy College of Nursing and Ayah is in her first year. After seeing the experience via Sam firsthand, Ayah decided she wanted to pursue her degree.

Ayah previously worked in the medical field before moving from New Orleans to Syracuse so applying to nursing school was an obvious next step for her.

“I knew it was a rigorous program because I saw Sam’s first-year experience, but I felt prepared,” Ayah says.

Sam says he has helped Ayah understand the demands of nursing school, but “she doesn’t need my help with studying.”

“If she has a specific question, I do help her, but she does her work on her own,” Sam says. Ayah echoes this, saying Sam has his plate full with his own course work.

One thing Ayah can’t help but do is compare her first semester grades with Sam’s from the previous year. “We’re not competitive, but if he did better than me on something, I will get annoyed,” she says with a laugh.

Ayah and Sam on their wedding day

As far as the program taking time away from their married life, that is not the case for Sam and Ayah. They enjoy spending their commute to school together – Sam even drives her on days he doesn’t have class – and they both say it’s somewhat of a relief to be with a partner who understands the time commitment studying to be a nurse can be.

Although they have different interests they want to pursue within nursing, they both agree that it would be great to work together…and hopefully stay in the Crouse family.

Learn more about a degree in nursing at crouse.org/nursing.

Laurie Clark is the Communications and Digital Media Manager at Crouse Health.