Mehwish Sadaqat ’24
Mehwish Sadaqat ’24 loves to talk about family. Her own close-knit family includes her mother and siblings, who immigrated from Pakistan in 2018, and her father, who arrived five years earlier to prepare a path for them. She also loves to talk about her Holy Family University family. For her, they are really one in the same.
“We came here to escape persecution as minority Christians who were discriminated against in many areas, including education. We came seeking a sense of belonging,” Sadaqat said of her parents, both of whom are social workers, and her siblings. She has no other blood relatives in America. “It was a hard transition. Holy Family University gave me hope for my future and a place to achieve what I dream. Holy Family has been such an uplifting community.”
That dream, of being a nurse, has been with Sadaqat since childhood and will soon be realized in the coming months as she is on schedule to graduate in May with a BSN. She has had to overcome the challenges of learning a new culture and language and in October 2022, the setback of a terrible car accident that left her with two broken ribs and has contributed to a scoliosis diagnosis that she now monitors. She missed a full semester of classes while recuperating.
“I feel like that accident was a second calling for me and that God gave me my life back and confirmed my desire to be a nurse,” she said. “Nursing for me has always been a way to spread love and kindness. It is more than a profession for me. I have had this compassion since my childhood, because I watched my parents reach out to marginalized communities. It is living my parents’, my family’s purpose of serving people with empathy. My family believes in giving back for the greater good of society. We strive to be positive influences and of service to others.”
Though she is undecided about which specific area of influence that may be, Sadaqat feels well prepared to begin her professional life of service.
“The core values of this school are what attracted me here,” she said. “Holy Family University has provided me with the best practice and given me the confidence to not only care for a patient but to be of emotional support.”