Student athlete selected as the 2025 Sturdy Health Nursing Scholarship Award recipient
Ava Audette ’28 got her college career off to a rocky start. She failed her first two nursing exams, briefly prompting her to consider whether she would be able to handle the challenge. But after talking with her professor and the coach of the field hockey team, she decided to redouble her efforts.
“I had so many people around me who wanted me to succeed and offered help—my coaches and teammates, my family, the professors and the staff of the nursing program,” said the first-generation college student, who worked with nursing program tutor Alyssa Fucci to improve her study skills. “I realized I needed to change something, and my progress has been uphill ever since.”
In fact, she earned an “A” on her final nursing exam and finished her first semester with a 3.9 grade point average.
This fall, Audette was selected as the 2025 recipient of the Sturdy Health Nursing Scholarship Award, a renewable $5,000 scholarship given to a high-achieving sophomore student with demonstrated financial need. It also includes an offer of paid summer employment, internship support and full-time employment after graduation. The award was announced during the nursing program’s White Coat ceremony for the Class of 2028, which marks students’ transition to clinical training.
“Hearing my name called, I was just shocked, completely surprised,” said Audette, a scholar-athlete who plays as a forward on the college’s field hockey team. “The scholarship makes a world of a difference to me. The financial assistance is welcome but it’s not just the dollar amount that matters, it’s also the opportunities that come with it. This just means the world to me.”
Professor of the Practice of Nursing Marianne Williams said that Audette has demonstrated strong commitment to excelling as a student and to helping others. “It’s amazing to see her progress and see how she continues to grow to the point where she is now helping other students as a peer tutor. I expect to see more amazing things from her.”
Head Field Hockey Coach Brooke Marshall said that Audette is “someone who takes feedback so well, and if she has a result that isn’t what she wants, she’s going to do everything in her power to make adjustments in order to get the outcome that she desires for herself.”
After completing her first season of NCAA competition, the Essex, Vt., resident was named a National Field Hockey Coaches Association (NFHCA) Scholar of Distinction, along with six of her teammates. The team won a NFHCA National Academic Team Award, with an overall 3.6 GPA.
Audette’s desire to become a nurse developed during high school. “I always had a passion for helping people, and I really enjoy studying science and math,” she said. “At my high school, we had a program called STEM Academy, through which I did a 40-hour internship shadowing nurses in the emergency room at the University of Vermont. I knew that was what I wanted to do some day.”
She was drawn to Wheaton as a place where she could continue her athletic career while studying nursing. Audette came to campus for a tour at the invitation of Coach Marshall and was immediately sold. “I fell in love with the campus, and the team is the most welcoming group of girls I’ve ever known,” she said.
The nursing program also stood out, she said. “The nursing facilities and the technology that Wheaton has are amazing. It is like nothing that I saw when visiting other colleges,” she said. “And the faculty and the staff, too, they were all just super welcoming. It felt like a very supportive environment.”
She stands by that initial assessment. “Wheaton has been very good. I would not change it for the world,” she said. “It’s definitely a lot of work, but I know in the end it’ll pay off.”
