Pat and Margaret talk about why they chose Women’s College Hospital School of Nursing

Interviewer: So the one question that we’ve been asking everybody is why did you pick Women’s College Hospital School of Nursing?

Margaret, Class of 1958: Oh!

Pat, Class of 1958: Oh, I can tell you clearly.

Margaret: You go ahead, go ahead.

Pat: One of my schoolmates, her sister came to Women’s. And she always had such wonderful stories. Well, she’d have had wonderful stories no matter where she was-

Margaret: Sure.

Pat: -nursing-

Margaret: Who was that?

Pat: -but she happened to be here. Betty Coutts.

Margaret: Okay, yes, I remember her.

Pat: And so that was how I came, but, the clincher… That was I guess what planted the seed. But the watering and manure, to grow-

Margaret: Mhm.

Pat: -came from anybody and everybody, er, they said “Well what are you going to do now?” as I got to be 14, 15, and 16. “I’m going to be a nurse.” “Where are you going? Do you know where you’re going yet?” “Women’s College.” There wasn’t one person, who knew the hospital, who didn’t say “Oh, that’s a fabulous.. I was there.. blah blah blah blah blah blah.” Everybody! And, they did not comment on how beautiful the building was, or how lovely it was kept-

Margaret: No.

Pat: -or anything else about the building. They all commented on the care.

Margaret: Mhm.

Pat: I thought, “Well, I can be part of that.” And every time somebody said that, I thought that to myself.

Margaret: So you kept-

Pat: So I wanted to… I didn’t want to be part of the building. It was clear to me that what they were telling me was that I should be part of the care.

Margaret: Yeah.