TOLEDO, Ohio — It was a higher power that got foreign exchange student Mila Buria across the Mercy College graduation stage Friday night.
"There was a point it was just me and God," Buria said. "But I'm really grateful for that journey because I'm looking like I'm by myself but honestly, I'm not by myself. It was his guidance."
Buria is Ukranian and came to the U.S. with no friends or family, just wanting an education. But she said her degree isn't about what she wants, but what she feels is needed.
More than 200 graduates who answered that call also walked across the stage at the Toledo Museum of Art's Peristyle Theater Friday night.
The American Hospital Association said since the COVID-19 pandemic, the healthcare field lost about 20% of its workforce.
Fellow nursing graduate Jamie Rand said Mercy College gave her an experience unlike anything else, and working in medicine is about loving what you do.
"It's a passion for sure," Rand said. "You don't go into it thinking of money or anything like that. If you find a love for it, definitely stick with it. It's become one of my favorite things."
The ceremony also included the first class of physician's assistants to graduate from the school. Regina Tan and 18 others will leave school with their master's degrees.
"We've become kind of like a family with the faculty," Tan said. "It's just really enjoyable to watch how we shaped the class, and how the program is going to go in the future."
But for Buria, this degree is about more than just a job; it's about a need.
"Don't look for what you want," Buria said. "Look for what you're meant."