Montana Tech students shatter myth that student-athletes can’t major in nursing

Jadyn Vermillion has a deep, personal connection to nursing. She had to spend time in the NICU when she was born a few weeks early.

“My mom always told me stories of how the nurses cared for me,” Vermillion said. “I want to give back to families going through what my family once went through.”

Vermillion is on track to graduate with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Montana Technological University in December and has plans to become a NICU nurse after graduation. But as a high school senior in Myrtle Creek, Oregon, colleges kept telling Vermillion that if she wanted to be a nurse, she’d have to give up her dreams of being a college athlete. They told her the rigorous coursework of nursing school and the demanding practice and travel schedules of athletes would never work out.

“Colleges in Oregon told me it was impossible,” Vermillion said. “When I visited, Montana Tech told me that it is possible.”

The approach is not only possible, but increasingly common. Vermillion, a member of Montana Tech’s women’s Track and Field team, works closely with Clinical Resource Registered Nurse Anni Anderson to coordinate her demanding athletic schedule with her clinicals rotations.

 “Once the student-athletes are accepted into the nursing program, the biggest challenge is ensuring their clinical/lab/simulation schedules work around their practices and travel as seamlessly as possible,” Anderson said. “These clinicals and labs are where the students get to practice all the hands-on skills they learn, and they are difficult to make up.”

That’s where Anderson steps in.

“My role is to coordinate with coaches and athletes to anticipate their schedules ahead of time so we can place them in clinicals and labs on days they will be in town,” she said. “Our faculty are all very supportive and work with the students to ensure they are able to get all their lecture information and can complete all their tests ahead of travel days. The biggest thing I want the students to remember is that communication with each individual faculty is key to their success.”

Having an advocate like Anderson was a huge help to Vermillion, who found great success on the track and field team.

“Last year, I qualified for nationals and was gone for an entire week during clinicals,” Vermillion said. “Anni figured out the whole thing for me so that I didn’t get any missed clinical days, and I could literally leave for a week and then come back. I stayed on track with everything I needed to.”

Since Fall 2024, Anderson has advised six students in the nursing program. In Fall 2025 she also began advising nine pre-nursing students as well to make sure they take the right classes to gain admission into the upper division nursing program.

“If you include the pre-nursing students, we have assisted track and field, volleyball, women's basketball, cross country, and golf athletes,” Anderson said. “We have also recently had two football players graduate with their nursing degree.”

Anderson also meets with prospective student-athletes who have an interest in attending Montana Tech.

“I love being able to sing the praises of the Sherry Lesar School of Nursing while also reassuring students that they can be successful in both athletics and in nursing,” Anderson said.

Anderson is proud of the teamwork that makes the students’ success possible.

“The work our faculty do to support our nursing student-athletes makes me incredibly proud,” Anderson said. “There are many different nursing programs who have students choose between being a student-athlete and a nursing student. It is often hard to balance athletics and nursing, so programs don't allow students to do both. The commitment of our faculty to ensure our student-athletes are successful is a partnership between ourNursing Department and Montana Tech Athletics.”

The payoff comes in seeing student-athletes cross the stage at commencement.

“The reward is seeing the nursing student-athletes be successful both in the classroom as well as in their sport,” Anderson said. “Nursing is a veryhard major and a lot of people don't realize the amount of time a student puts into becoming a nurse. When you add the commitment of also being a student-athlete, it always makes me so proud to see how well the students manage it all.”

To learn more about the #1 BSN program in Montana (Niche, 2025) and the Sherry Lesar School of Nursing, click here.