Laura Davison has one university degree already and is on the
Dean's Honour List. She has received McMaster awards for her
leadership and service to the community, and was elected twice to
represent the McMaster Undergraduate Nursing Students' Society (MUNSS)
in different roles.

What makes her accomplishments so remarkable is that she reads at
the
level of a fifth grader.

On Friday, June 17 Davison will be one of 482 graduates receiving
their Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BScN) degree from McMaster
University's School of Nursing during the convocation ceremony at
Hamilton Place.

The Peterborough native has a learning disability, though she
hadn't
always known it. Her mind jumbles things together, like digits and
letters in phone numbers and license plates. “I had a difficult time
in school keeping up with my classmates. I had to put in the extra
time to make up the grades,” said Davison.

It was in 2008, after her second year at the University of Guelph
where she would eventually earn a bachelor of science specializing in
biological sciences, that a summer employer noticed a parallel between
his personal struggles with a learning disability and the issues she
was having.

A psychological assessment was performed and Davison was diagnosed
with a reading disorder. She scored below the tenth percentile in
reading, reading comprehension and phonological processing, but above
the ninetieth percentile in cognitive functioning. “I'm more or less a
smart person who isn't able to keep up with the reading without help,”
she explained.

“My psychologist was astonished that I was able to pass my first
year
in university and that I wasn't forced to stay behind a year,” said
Davison.

She needed to study twice as much as her peers for exams, and wrote
essays several weeks in advance, going through five or six drafts with
family members.

“What I want anyone else with an issue like this to know is that it
can be a challenge, but not an unbeatable challenge. For those who
told me I couldn't do it – I want to show them that, yes, I do things
in a different way, but it doesn't mean it can't be done.”

She attributes her success in the nursing program to problem-based
learning (PBL), a model developed by McMaster.

“PBL was my lifesaver,” she said, explaining that the small-group
problem-solving, verbal discussion and use of visual aids allowed her
to maximize her learning potential. The Centre for Student Development
permitted her to take accommodated exams and offered programs to help
her read.

Davison decided to pursue nursing partly because her mom is a
nurse,
adding, “I realized I wanted to be in contact with people and help
them.”

She has been hired by the London Health Sciences Centre's Nursing
Resource Unit and plans to pursue graduate studies in nursing.

“What's motivated me is just knowing I could do more than people
said
I could and that the disability wasn't a limitation I was willing to
accept.”

The convocation ceremony for graduates of the McMaster Mohawk
Conestoga BScN program begins at 9:30 a.m. at Hamilton Place. In
addition, two PhD nursing students and one master's student will
receive graduate degrees. Graduates in medical radiation sciences will
also receive their degrees at this ceremony.

An honorary Doctor of Laws degree will be conferred to Sister M.
Simone Roach, an influential educator in nursing who established the
first Canadian code of ethics for registered nurses. She will also
address students at the convocation.