Forsythe named MSU’s inaugural Master of Science in Nursing Outstanding Graduate

MERIDIAN, Miss.—51�Թ��’s first Master of Science in Nursing graduation means more than receiving a degree for Heather Forsythe. It’s her comeback story.

Forsythe, who initially studied nursing more than 15 years ago, will graduate with the inaugural MSN cohort this Thursday [Aug. 7] summa cum laude. She is being recognized as the inaugural Outstanding Graduate honoree in MSU’s School of Nursing.

Heather Forsythe pictured at MSU-Meridian's Interprofessional Simulation Center, a state-of-the-art facility preparing students for real-life medical situations. — Heather Forsythe has been named the Master of Science in Nursing’s inaugural Outstanding Graduate honoree at MSU-Meridian. (Photo by Marianne Todd)

The Brandon resident, who has made the 160-mile round trip to MSU-Meridian to attend school each day since entering the program last fall, first graduated from Meridian Community College’s nursing program in 2008. However, difficult life changes and the sudden prospect of being a single mother to an infant led Forsythe to recognize the timing wasn’t right for her to complete the credentials to become a registered nurse.

“I was going through a lot of stress and anxiety, but in 2011 the 51�Թ�� Board of Nursing said I could sit for the LPN board,” she said. “I did and worked at Bedford Care Center in Newton for a year and a half.”

When her son turned 3, she enrolled at MSU. In 2014, she earned her bachelor’s degree in elementary education and worked at Forest Elementary School before transferring to Rankin County Schools. She remarried, gave birth to a daughter, and spent the next 10 years teaching.

Then last year, something out of the ordinary happened.

“I think it was God,” she said. “I think God pulled me here. I started getting these little postcards out of nowhere from different places for nursing programs, LPN to RN. Since I hadn’t even been looking, I thought it was kind of crazy.”

When her mother-in-law told her about the new MSN program in Meridian, Forsythe jumped at the prospect.

“I felt this was it,” she said. “It’s been a lot of hard work, but before this, I had sold myself short. I prepared myself for this, and I’ve put everything into it.”

As she began the program, her determination pushed her through her grandmother’s death last fall, a car wreck this spring that left her in excruciating pain and her father’s unexpected death.

Forsythe is the model case for the value of an accelerated MSN program, said Kayla Carr, professor of nursing.

“Heather remained teachable, curious and diligent throughout the program and is well-respected by her peers and faculty,” Carr said. “We’re honored to have her represent the MSU School of Nursing as she heads into the Meridian nursing workforce.”

After taking the NCLEX in September, Forsythe plans to begin her career at Ochsner Rush Health, where she has accepted a position in the hospital’s intensive care unit.

For more information about MSU’s MSN program, visit .

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