Christina Murray

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Slide - 50 Years, 50 Voices - Christina Murray - 00:00
So, I'm Christina Murray and I currently am an Associate Professor with the
faculty of Nursing here at UPEI, and my UPEI connections are, I often think
UPEI has been a part of my life, so I– I came here, I did two undergrad
degrees; I did Undergrad Arts, Psychology and Philosophy were a double
major, and I also did my Bachelor of Science in Nursing. So I began my
journey as an undergrad student here in ninety...it was around '93, and I
completed both degrees in '98, so I graduated with the two degrees on the
same day in May of 1998.


Slide - Early Memories - 00:47 
Well you know what? My first memories of UPEI are not as an actual
undergraduate student, it's when I was in grade 3. So when I was in grade
3, I was in Bloomfield Elementary School and we had a field trip to UPEI to
come to the Planetarium so that is years and years ago, that's back in
probably early 80’s and I remember that was my first time I had ever come
to a university, I was a child who loved to learn, I loved to read, I loved
books and we came here and we went to the planetarium, we had a tour of
this library and I was in awe, I was in absolute awe that you could come to
a place and learn and see so many books all the time and then we had the
cafeteria, we went to the cafeteria and they had juice and they had the
largest chocolate chip cookies I have ever seen in my life and that was the
moment I knew, I was going to come here to university when I grew up. It
was- It was such a memorable, it really made an impact on me and I've often
thought, you know, where I sit now as a Faculty Member, in Nursing at UPEI,
how it would be so wonderful if these types of field trips happened for
children in those early years in elementary school to give them a taste
what this campus is about and what it might be like to imagine yourself
growing up and coming here.


Slide - Life as a Nursing Student - 02:14 
My undergraduate experience was phenomenal, it was absolutely phenomenal,
but really what resonated with me is my nursing time. So the nursing degree
we were, you know, the third class, things were really evolving, we are
still at an evolution period for the program and we started out with 25, we
exited with 16 students and the 16 of us we were so close, you know we
really were like a like a pack; we travelled together, we did everything
together, we had clinicals together, we really a lot of times we lived
together too, it was a phenomenal learning experience and I've often said
the UPEI program here set me up for all of the great successes that came my
way in nursing practice in my graduate studies, and you know we had
phenomenal faculty, like our faculty that were here our Dean, Doctor
Monroe, and Doctor [Drayson] those were the two that I– were under my
direction while I was a student. They were just the epitome of what strong
leaders looked like, you know it was a really good the faculty were so
supportive they were so, so supportive, and they knew us they really really
knew us well, and so they were in a lot of ways for me were great role
models about what nursing educators should look like, what nurse leaders
should be and how I knew I really had an incredible undergraduate education
in Nursing at UPEI was right after nursing school; so I graduated in May
and then I still of course loved to learn and went straight to my Master's
degree, so I started my Master's in the University of Calgary that
September and within my first couple of courses because we were so
foundational in terms of our Primary Healthcare, our determinants of health
like that kind of curriculum that was embedded in us, I remember once I was
actually teaching for the teacher, like, teaching for a Faculty Member on a
course that she was trying to explain what primary healthcare determinants
were like and applying it to a case study, I remember standing up and I had
minimal nursing practice experience but I was able to take the sharpie
like, the dry-erase marker and like draw the whole concept for our class
and I remember calling Rosemary Herbert and I said: "Rosemary, I want you
to know how well you taught us" because everything was so evolutionary, it
was kind of like I think in a lot of ways we were the guinea pigs, we were
learning as we were going, as the program was evolving but I knew kind of
in that moment that I have a very strong UPEI prepared me well, for not
only the practice that I would have, 'cause I had a really phenomenal
nursing practice in Calgary, but to continue on in graduate studies.


Slide - Preparing for a Career - 05:18 
My love of learning you know started when I was a little child but I loved
and I knew I wasn't done of my Nursing education, when I exited from UPEI,
so it prepared me well to go on and I really saw and the role modeling that
I had like, Kim Critchley, so Doctor Kim Critchley, Doctor Donna Murnaghan,
Doctor Rosemary Herbert, those three and Doctor Margaret Monroe, so those
four women really were, they were inspirational to me in terms of what
leaders looked like and what really great nurse educators are, so I've
always tried to kind of emulate, I've strived to emulate how well, like how
well they treated us, how well they supported us, their innovations in
teaching and you know just their kindness, their kindness and supportive
nature of their students.


Slide - What Does UPEI Mean to You? - 06:13 
UPEI has been a gift to me, UPEI has been one of the great lessons of my
life. I love this Institution, I love being here, I love working here, I'm
proud of the fact that I earned two degrees here but this is the place that
I feel I've really been able to blossom and grow in my program of research
so I’ve been able to…and the support that I've had in terms of research
services and knowing who I can reach out to in terms of if I have questions
about the grant, the application process, all of that we know we have a
tremendous amount of gifted people who work at this Institution, who use
their best gifts and talents every day they come to work and it's wonderful
you know you can count on those people and regardless of faculty or
regardless of you know, the library you know, the Research Services Office,
Research Accounting has become one of my most favorite people but it's
wonderful because the support is there and I think that's one thing about
UPEI, you know we may be small in numbers but we are great and large in
what we can accomplish together and I have really, really felt that and
found that in you know the last 10 plus years that I've come back and
worked here as a faculty member.


Slide - Your Labour Migration Research - 07:36 
In the last couple years it's led me to the VANIER Institute who's
recognizing you know that what we are doing is a significant issue for our
country and so working with them on last years Family Work and Mobility
Conference that we hosted here at UPEI and that is something I'm very proud
of because that is the first time ever in our country, that people who
study serve and support families who are impacted by labor migration, came
together and so we had 93 people from Canada, Hong Kong, the US, who
literally came and we sat together in the engineering building and we
developed a phenomenal program and then we took that and the VENIER asked
the UPEI to be one of their host satellite partners for the Families in
Canada Conference. So that those were kind of pretty proud events that I
have and what it all comes back to and I'm realizing I think as I grow in
my research and grow in my career at UPEI is it's all about people, it's
all about engagement, it's all about partnering, it's all about working
together and when you can enter into those research relationships with your
participants and your communities in that spirit, then it's phenomenal what
you will learn and how those experiences can be illuminated.


Slide - Scholarships and Awards - 08:59 
I was so fortunate, I was so fortunate in terms of getting scholarships and
awards and you know, coming from rural PEI every student will tell you how
expensive university education is and so being on student loans like every
penny that I was able to receive in terms of financial support was
significant to me and that also made a lasting impression, it made a
lasting impression to me in terms of how the generosity of others and
thinking about students and thinking about their programs and development
as an undergraduate student and in particular as a nurse, you know trying
to support nursing education what it meant to me and so I always felt once
I finished my PhD because that was the end of my formal education, I wasn't
doing any more, that I wanted make sure that I gave back to Nursing and so
when both of my grandmothers died within you know a period of time and it
was really important to me then to set up some scholarships for nursing,
and some awards that I wanted students to have and it's a beautiful way for
me, I think, to give back to the University because I know that there were
so many people who gave and I was so fortunate to receive the financial
assistance that I did when I was coming here as an undergraduate student,
that I really like in my heart I really wanted to give back and so you know
that in terms of being able to do that as a faculty member like that is
something else that makes me very proud to know that I can you know keep my
grandmother's memory alive, who were so, so instrumental in terms of
encouraging this little girl from the Piusville Road to go to school and
study and work hard they were always praising me for being smart but to be
able to you know raise their memory up and support students in Nursing now
and into the future.


Slide - Final Thoughts - 11:03 
You know I'm very proud it's exciting to see that we are 50 years at this
Institution and when I look at kind of my life trajectory and how old I am
and you know when I came here that first day when I was in grade 3 which
would have been you know 8 or 9 years old, you know a lot of my life of my
years of life UPEI has been a very important part to me so it just it makes
me so proud to be here like as a Faculty Member now and I feel a lot of
times like I've grown up at UPEI, so I went from the student to now the
faculty member and sometimes I tell my students when I'm teaching them at
the undergraduate level you know, "many moons ago but I did sit where you
are sitting literally and I was listening to professors talk to me about
you know concepts like what we are learning together today..." but I think
what it does is, I- I have an appreciation for the Institution and I have
you know maybe I see things here in a different lens, than others who were
not, who didn't do two undergraduate degrees and then come back and it's
almost like a full circle experience that I have and it's exciting to see
where this university has gone in 50 years and you know I'm happy to be
here and I really am looking forward like my intention is to stay
[Laughter] so my intention is to stay and grow my career here and retire
from here, that is my full intention so it’s just I think it's really
exciting when you have these milestones like a 50th to be able to pause and
reflect on where you've been, how you've grown, what you've been able to
accomplish and where you might go to the future.