Most Whitman students have had at least one late night experience at the health center. The friendly face we see after 11:30 pm is that of Dawn Chlipala, an RN whose duties consist of caring for the sick, the hurt and the intoxicated (depending on the night). The Pioneer made a midnight trip over to the health center to talk to Chlipala, who has been working at Whitman for three years.

Pioneer: Tell me a little bit about yourself.
Chlipala: I’ve been a nurse for almost four years. I’ve had several jobs since I’ve graduated trying to fit my family. My job here works well with my family, even if the late nights can be a little hard. I have another job I do during Winter break and the summers working with pediatric patients in their homes in the Tri-Cities

P: When and how did you become a nurse?
C: Well, I’ve always wanted to be a nurse since I was 17. I just love helping people and I like medicine, so it fit well. I did five years in the military as a Navy corpsman, which is kind of like a medic. I definitely knew medicine was for me. I took classes while I was active duty and once I got out I had a kid so I put it on break for a while. About seven years ago when we moved here to Walla Walla I found out they had the program at the community college and continued on from there.

P: In the navy, did you do a lot of traveling?
C: The navy is where I met my husband and we’ve been all over the world. I did a tour in Bosnia, a tour off the coast of Haiti, and when we got married my husband and I went to Iceland together. It was so great!

P: With cold and flu season in full swing, how busy are you getting here at the health center?
C: We’re really busy. In fact, the week before Thanksgiving we had almost every bed in here taken. We see it happen more during this season and times closer to finals.

P: Now, we know that late nights on the weekends can be a tough shift for any nurse. What’s some of the crazy things you’ve seen?
C: The intoxicated students that I see are always very interesting because they’re so different from when you see them sober. You never know what is going to happen when you have an intoxicated student here. Sometimes they’re giddy, sometimes they’re crying… so it’s very interesting. I’ve seen burns from people trying to make hot tea or coffee. I’ve had students in here that were scared because they were having chest pains or rapid heart beats. It turns out that they had too much caffeine and too many energy drinks all at the same time!

P: What’s your favorite part of the job?
C: Interacting with the students. Sometimes they just need a little TLC and I like that. I can give that, that’s easy for me. The Whitman students are wonderful so you can’t ask for a better job.