Meet Nursing Instructor Amber Augustine!
Amber Augustine is one of the on-ground instructors and runs the state-of-the-art lab at Morgantown WVJC. Amber feels that working here at WVJC brings out the best in her to pass on to our nursing students. She says, “It is that ‘aha’ moment that excites me the most when the student is able to put together theory and hands-on experience and have that excited look on their face that genuinely shows in their eyes that everything makes so much sense!” Seeing that sparkle in their eyes is worth all the time and effort that Amber puts into planning class, endless hours of grading, making up study guides, and setting up labs and clinicals.
Amber is from a humble beginning and made her parents proud. She started as a CNA before going to college; not only did she go back to school in her late thirties, but she also put both of her daughters through college at the same time by herself. Once she finished her associate degree and became an RN, she moved on to gaining her BSN and later her MSN in education, all while working full time. She has finished her FNP education and is working on passing her boards to become a Nurse Practitioner, which she would like to be the next chapter in her life. She was also able to graduate with both of her daughters from college a few times, and, although she wishes, they are not nurses; her oldest is a math teacher, and her youngest daughter is a CPA and is a professor at a college.
In a prior life, she was a homeroom mom, band mom, and sports mom that included swimming, volleyball, and track and field. Her life was, and is, dedicated to her children, now her grandchildren, and the remainder of her family. They are some of the things that motivate her most in life. There is nothing more heartwarming to Amber than when her children recognize all of the hard work that she has done for them to make them the wonderful, strong, and loving women they are today; furthermore, when her grandbabies are excited to see her and yell, “Nana!”. Amber feels that, out of everything, these things are her greatest accomplishments!
Another part of her life before nursing included working as a front counter girl at a KFC, working in a paper plant, owning and operating a craft store, and delivering newspapers for a spell. Her nursing career has included working in homecare/hospice, long-term care, med-surg in hospitals, various supervisory positions with the mentally challenged, and educating nursing students at another college. Prior to nursing, she also had time to sew, make plastic canvas items, create wreaths and swags, and scrapbooking. Now, the only craft items she gets to work on are making plaques with her grandchildren’s hands and feet on them for special occasions!
Amber has lived many of her dreams, such as dancing in a ballet company at Heinz Hall in Pittsburgh, PA, having a loving family, having a soul mate and partner to spend her life with, and, most of all, helping those around her. She still has many dreams to live, but being here at WVJC has helped her with another dream of instructing nursing students to become great nurses that change the future of nursing.
Learn more about employment opportunities at WVJC here!