By Michelle Howard, Development Officer
Photo caption: Michelle Howard with Lauren Faeth ’16 and Garrett Hubner ’16, scholarship recipients.
Recently, Lauren Faeth ’16 joined the board of the Michael T. Goulet Traumatic Brain Injury and Epilepsy Foundation––a cause with profound personal significance. At age 17, Lauren suffered a traumatic brain injury (TBI). For the next 12 months, instead of starting college, she had to relearn how to walk, write, and perform other basic tasks. Saint Joseph’s held her acceptance, giving her time to fight her way back––and she did.
“I remember doctors telling me how I might not be able to walk or go to college,” she recalls, “and if I did, nursing school was certainly out of the question.” Despite all predictions, Lauren entered Saint Joseph’s nursing program and graduated this spring. While a student, she received the Michael T. Goulet Foundation Scholarship, named for an SJC student who died tragically in 2010. Lauren became close to Michael’s family, volunteered for the Foundation, and began giving speeches about TBI and its effects on one’s life.
Today, Lauren works as a clinical nurse assistant at Saint Mary’s Hospital, where she will assume a full-time nursing position in the Joint Center upon passing her nursing boards, which she plans to take this summer. As a Foundation spokesperson and board member, she’s helping the organization that helped her.
