The newest alumni of Elon University’s School of Health Sciences were encouraged to ground their careers in human relationships, compassion and purpose during a Commencement ceremony attended by hundreds of close family and friends.
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Professor Charity Johansson, a founding faculty member of Elon University’s Doctor of Physical Therapy program, has personally experienced across a career of nearly five decades the ways in which health care practitioners can find personal fulfillment.
And as she prepares to retire from the university having influenced many hundreds of graduates and earning in 2024 the university’s highest faculty honor, the Daniels-Danieley Award for Excellence in Teaching, Johansson sought to share her wisdom in a Commencement address to some of the newest members of the healthcare profession.
Her key takeaways on Dec. 12, 2025, for Elon University students conferred with degrees in nursing, physician assistant studies and physical therapy included:
- Prioritize human connection over individual achievement in both career and life.
- Practice compassion with boundaries to sustain caring without burnout.
- Treat yourself with self-compassion and accept help as part of belonging.
Delivering her afternoon remarks in Alumni Gym to School of Health Sciences graduates, Johansson challenged the familiar advice to “follow your bliss,” calling it inconsistent with both evidence and lived experience. She cited the Harvard Study of Adult Development, which has tracked participants for the better part of a century and found that strong relationships matter more to long-term happiness than wealth or physical health.
“If you want to pursue an evidence-informed approach to happiness, you have to focus on other people and not just yourself,” Johansson said. “I suspect that most of you sitting here came to healthcare because you already care about relationships. It’s quite possibly also why you chose to study at Elon.
“So it’s good to know that relationships are also the key to professional success and happiness. Studies indicate that the more people focus solely on themselves, the worse off they are likely to be—physically, mentally, and professionally.”
For healthcare professionals, Johansson said, those connections may be brief but still lasting. Even short encounters, including supportive words offered in moments of care, can leave a lifelong impact. Research was cited showing that compassion improves patient experiences and protects providers from burnout, a condition marked by emotional exhaustion and detachment that disproportionately affects healthcare workers.
Johansson emphasized that compassion differs from empathy alone because it moves people to action while reducing personal emotional distress. Studies of compassion training show increased activity in brain regions associated with reward and belonging rather than pain.
Sustaining compassion over time, she reminded graduates, requires boundaries, self-compassion and a willingness to accept help. Johansson also stressed that fulfillment depends on connecting to something greater than oneself, often experienced through relationships with patients, colleagues and communities.
“When we think of relationships, we tend to imagine longevity,” Johansson said. “Yet for many of us, our intersections with patients may last only a few minutes and we never see those people again. But your supportive words and your moments of caring can stay with a person for a lifetime.”
The Commencement program welcomed families, friends and mentors of 45 candidates for the Doctor of Physical Therapy, 38 candidates for the Master of Physician Assistant Studies, and 25 candidates for the university’s Accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing program.
Maha Lund, dean of the School of Health Sciences, in her welcoming remarks thanked clinical partners who provided practical learning experiences for students, and she shared her gratitude for loved ones who supported graduates throughout their academic journeys. Lund also spoke directly to those about to enter the healthcare profession.
“Graduates, know that you are needed!” Lund said. “Today our communities face significant healthcare challenges and inequities. You have worked hard to develop clinical and leadership skills that can help you address these challenges and reduce healthcare inequities.
“Congratulations on your accomplishments. We wish you continued success and happiness as you apply your learning to serve those around you.”
In a charge to graduates to conclude the ceremony, Elon University President Connie Ledoux Book cautioned about the world in which healthcare workers now practice where science, once an unquestioned foundation, is too often dismissed or distorted.
Graduates will also practice in systems where business models shift rapidly, Book said, and the pressures on clinicians and the needs of patients are growing ever more complex.
“Go forth with compassion. Be a steady presence in spaces where uncertainty and instability can distract from the heart of healing,” she said. “Serve with integrity when you face difficult decisions, and let your training guide you toward what is just and wise.
“Be advocates for your patients, for your communities, and for a healthcare system that honors each and every person. And hold fast to the belief that your work matters deeply, especially in times when the world needs compassionate clinicians more than ever.”
Candidates for the Accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing
- Layla Abumayaleh
- Sarah Allison Acu:
- Ashley Emelda Banegas
- Kiara Lyniece Batts
- Joshua Isaiah Brower
- Abigail Chester
- Claire Elizabeth Cummings
- Jessica Claire Davis
- Emily Anne Easthom
- Samantha Page Eldredge
- Abigail Heath Franklin
- Cyntasia Dene’ Hammonds
- Sarah Jenkins
- Caroline Grace Maness
- Carmen Mesa
- Shania Brianna Oyler
- Alexa Porter
- Avery Lane Riley
- Mia Gabrielle Rose
- Haley Josephine Savastano
- Lillie Grace Shamblin
- Lauryn Alexandra Smith
- Madison Jaycee Steele
- Suleyma Torres-Garcia
- Anna Josie Wheat
Candidates for the Master of Science in Physician Assistant Studies
- Sarah Lane Edwards Adams
- Fatema Alhajeri
- Haley Brooke Brennan
- Brianna Laurel Bromley
- Mia Cameron Cleary
- Cynthia Chisom Dimgba
- Devron John Felder
- Samir Halalou
- Chandler Reid Halvorsen
- Grace FuJia Huisking
- Katrina Anastasija Jackson
- Nadia Zein Ja:al
- Lillian Rae Kerchinsky
- Blessed Kisakye Wiele
- Michael Richard McCormack
- Lina Concetta Meikle
- Danielle Martine Meyen
- Jordan-Lee Napolitano
- Sarah Michelle Newman
- Sydney Marie Noldin
- Brian Walter O’Hare Jr.
- Dylan James Paracka
- Robert Arthur Plagmann
- Gabriela Jazmin Quintanilla
- Patricia Lourdes Raj
- Joshua Lewis Rambeaut
- Yeimi Lizbeth Reyna Romero
- Savannah Joyce Richardson
- Andrea Leigh Robertson
- Dakota Austin Sampson
- Erin Elizabeth Schiemann
- Laura Staeheli
- Savannah Cherie Summy
- Douglas James Thompson
- Vivian Chau Tiet
- Eddie Dean Tyler White
- Julia Christine Wyner
- Ellie Christine Yakubu
Candidates for the Doctor of Physical Therapy
- Nicholas Michael Bush
- Katelyn Brooke Carpenter
- Emiliano Chirigliano
- Raya Imani Coley
- Kasey Copeland
- John Carl Daniels
- Jazmyne Nechole Davis
- Rachel Laurel Davis
- Logan Gregory Deese
- Danielle Sanford Essex
- Michaela Faith Fitzgerald
- Gabrielle M. Flocco
- Josephine Freeman
- Madison Leigh Friday
- Taylor Marie Grikis
- Terris Hightower
- William Huie
- Kaleigh Iris Jenkins
- Samantha Rose Kosmacki
- Kyle Matthew Langworthy
- Breanna M. Lanouette
- Kieran Best Mahoney
- Katherine Briana Messikomer
- Alex Miller
- Andrew G. Miller
- Jamshed K. Mistry
- Sara Moore
- Isaac Murdock
- Alexis Nowell
- Airiann Marie Page
- Ashlyn Wolfe Panagrosso
- Chaney Leigh Patton
- Samantha Nichole Pawlovich
- Wesley Allen Roberson
- Veronica Romero-Perozo
- Jacob Dean Rosengarten
- Milani Denise Lavarias Saldon
- Virginia Royal Shafer
- Anthony William Shea
- Charles Fairbank Sigloh
- Addison Kay Swo:ord
- Alannah Marie Thomas
- Matthew L Urrutia
- Thomas Ryan Van Dorp
- Hannah Michelle Wright
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