By David Fleet
Editor
Megan Duval’s recent spring break made a difference.

Duval, 19, is a 2016 Goodrich High School graduate. She is currently a sophomore at Saginaw Valley State University in her first year of the nursing program. From March 5-11, Duval was one of more than 50 SVSU students who opted for a less than traditional spring break and volunteered with a few classmates at the Arkansas Children’s Hospital, Little Rock, Ark.
“I’ve gone to Florida before on spring break,” said Duval. “This year I just wanted to help others—it was a lot of fun, helped some families and changed the direction of my nursing career.”
The student-run Alternative Breaks program featured five areas to volunteer: Champion Athletes of the Ozarks, Springfield, Mo.; Appalachian South Folklife Center, Pipestem, W.V.; Kingdom House, St. Louis, Mo.; Chesapeake Bay Foundation, Annapolis, Md. and Arkansas Children’s Hospital, Little Rock, Ark. where Duval participated.
“It was my first time working with kids,” she said. “We worked on a variety of activates with the children and in the family center at the hospital. Often parents would be in the waiting room with the siblings of children in the hospital. We provided arts and crafts for those children among other activities.”
“I now really liked working with children,” she said. “They are so optimistic about their future and getting better. They were fun to interact with and really changed my mind about pediatrics .”
Duval’s mother Beth has been a nurse at Beaumont Hospital, Royal Oak for many years.
“Mom’s work is why I wanted to go into nursing,” she said. “Over the years she shared so many stories about working in the hospital—it’s what I want to do.”
After graduation Duval plans on working in the emergency room or the operating room and hopes to stay in Michigan.