Mary’s Story

Our Mission: 

The mission is to promote the compassionate and empathetic care provided by passionate Nurses through Scholarship to deserving Nursing students and recognition of practicing Nurses who enthusiastically provide care with respect and integrity to others.

 How we came about: “Mary’s Story”

Mary Margaret Trant was born on June 30th 1999. She was a “miracle baby”. Mary was a bold, strawberry blonde, dimpled-cheek, happy infant with a contagious laugh that lasted throughout her lifetime. As other family members were dealing with serious complicated illnesses, Mary from a very young age instinctively worked to provide comfort and relief; perhaps these were the first signs Mary was destined to be a healer. 

As Mary grew older, so did her potential and call to help others.

While committed to Salem State’s RN-BSN nursing track, Mary had worked part-time as an in-home aid helping the sick and disabled before beginning her training to become a certified Massachusetts EMT.

 While college courses were in session, as a commuter student, Mary’s favorite study spot was on her bed or spread out across the kitchen counter. If you watched Mary studying for her exams, you would witness her feverishly flipping through medical texts, re-watching lectures, and writing down content to review on thousands of brightly-colored flashcards, in effort to help her memorize and master key skills & terminology within the nursing profession. Mary’s dedication to her studies helped her achieve A’s on campus in advanced courses such as Pharmacology, Medical Surgery, Microbiology, Anatomy & Physiology and Organic Chemistry. In addition to time spent in the classroom, Mary was also able to build nursing confidence while testing her abilities during on-campus labs and while working at local hospitals. 

Although Mary’s academia largely helped to teach her all that she would need to know to succeed as a nurse after graduation, perhaps what Mary such a remarkable and memorable caretaker and nursing student was her gentle touch, intelligence and empathetic approach while aiding patients. Patients of Mary’s in the past reported her charming personality and calming bedside manner made them feel so comforted and less alone in hospitals on lockdown during the 2020-21 COVID-19 pandemic. Mary’s touch had a soothing, angelic feel that had the ability to emotionally connect with patients and put their minds at ease in moments of distress. Her wittiness and dry sense of humor could also afford her instructors and fellow nursing students temporary moments of laughter and lightness during long shifts of stress and fatigue. 

Mary knew studying to become a Nurse (and later, a certified EMT) was going to be challenging and very demanding of her mentally, physically, and emotionally but believed deeply helping others as a nurse was her calling and purpose. Mary’s favorite academic journal was a 5×7 bound notebook dressed in actual blue scrubs complete with an inscription on the front cover “Nurses Change Lives For The Better”.  With the generous support and engagement of the community, sponsors, and donation contributors, we are committed to carrying on Mary’s mission through thoughtful donations, acts of kindness and academic scholarship opportunities.