Kristin Singh is one of Belmont’s many nursing students but she boasts an extra special extracurricular–for the past two years she has shared the sidelines with the Tennessee Titans as a Titans cheerleader.
She began her academic career as a marine biology major at the College of Charleston but through a series of major changes found herself in the neuroscience department. She moved to Belmont “because it was one of the only schools in the Nashville area that had a neuroscience major” and soon “started thinking about nursing after hearing how great Belmont’s program was.” Once in the nursing program she quickly formed a bond with Mrs. Keary Dryden, her clinical instructor her first semester. Kristin recalls, “I was so nervous for my first clinical, and she made it easy for me to relax and learn as much as I could. She still challenged me, but she did it in a way that made me comfortable.”

Despite finding nursing a highly rewarding career she sought to fulfill another desire: her passion for dance. She began her dance career at only four years old and eventually danced her way onto her high school dance team. After graduation she “started to miss dancing” and “when [she] moved back to Nashville [her] sophomore year [she] decided to try out for the Titans”.
When asked about the connection between her work as a Titan’s cheerleader and her nursing preparation, Kristen had an interesting story to tell. She begins, “we do many charity events that involve the healthcare community. I had the opportunity to go to an appearance at the VA hospital about a month ago. I did my clinical there last year and was able visit patients on the floor that I worked [on]. It was very neat to go back and see everyone that I worked with during my clinical rotation. However, it was different being there in my cheerleading uniform. I never told anyone that I was a cheerleader, so the other nurses that recognized me were a little surprised that I had this other life. It made me so happy that I was able to relate my nursing experiences to cheerleading. It also pleased me to help the patients in a different way by visiting them as a Titans cheerleader rather than a student nurse.”
Kristin loved being a cheerleader and positive role model for the community, but her upper-level nursing classes were making it “more difficult to juggle both school and cheerleading.” She says that her “education is by far more important than cheerleading” which is why you won’t see her again this year on the Titans sidelines. Soon she will graduate with her nursing degree and is excited to start her career!