Alumni share lessons in resilience

When the alumni gathered to celebrate the 2025 All School Reunion on Oct. 9 at Coffman Memorial Union, they heard two voices on the theme of resilience. Sheryl Ramstad, DNP ’17, MN ’13, and Veronica Callaghan, DNP ’22, know firsthand the realities of setbacks and the grit it takes to rise above them.

Ramstad’s path led her into law and public service, serving 14 years as a judge and later as commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Corrections. Behind the titles, she faced challenges — family illness, devastating losses, and a catastrophic accident that ultimately inspired her to pursue nursing. Her ability to meet hardship with faith and a forward-looking spirit drives her story, which she shares in her memoir, Living Life Full Throttle.

Callaghan launched her career as a licensed practical nurse after high school and steadily advanced — from earning her bachelor’s degree at Purdue University to completing her Doctor of Nursing Practice degree in health innovation and leadership at the University of Minnesota. Today, she leads as a reusable medical device program manager at the Veterans Affairs Puget Sound Health Care System, serves on the School of Nursing Alumni Society Board and Foundation Board, and continues to champion diversity, equity, and inclusion.

We asked Ramstad and Callaghan to reflect on how they build resilience and to share their best advice for sustaining wellbeing. Here’s an edited version of that conversation.

Can you describe a particularly stressful work or life situation that made you realize the importance of resilience?

SR: What began as a harrowing survival story unfolded into a tale of resilience, hope and rebirth. At the age of 29, I went from the thrill of my first solo flight to the horrors of the burn unit where I fought for my life. While flying over the Mississippi River, State Capitol, and downtown St. Paul, the plane’s engine suddenly quit. As the plane went down, a power line tore off one wing, causing the gas tank to explode and engulfing the cockpit in flames. I was burned over 37% of my body, had several major surgeries, and was given less than a 1% chance of survival. Over two years of excruciating rehabilitation tested me mentally, emotionally and physically. 

From the depths of despair, I discovered strength that I didn’t know I had. Determined to reclaim my life, I embarked on a journey not just to recover but determined to fill each day with a new adventure. By embracing challenges that once seemed impossible, I reinvented myself, pivoting to a new career, starting a family, returning to school, changing professions, running marathons, and climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro.

VC: When my best friend and husband took his life in October 2020, I was only a year into my doctoral nursing program. Quite frankly, I did not think I could make it. The grief was so profound it felt unimaginable. I had lost someone to whom I finally felt connected — someone I depended upon completely — and suddenly he was gone. The trauma that comes with sudden death is awful, but the trauma that comes with suicide is unspeakable.

I was blessed with family, friends, and professors at the University of Minnesota Doctor of Nursing Practice Program, who not only figuratively but literally held me up during my time of brokenness. I am thankful, grateful, and humbled by such profound empathy. 

What advice do you have for people seeking to find balance and improve their overall wellbeing?

SR: Finding balance is a lifelong process. It requires constantly monitoring oneself to ensure that you’re taking care of yourself — spiritually, physically, and emotionally. For me, this includes Bible study, prayer, and fellowship with other believers. It also requires that I eat properly, sleep enough, get daily exercise by walking, weightlifting and stretching. I also make certain that I stay in close contact with other family members and friends. And I enjoy the arts — music, theater and literature. 

VC: This is a crucial question, and I will be candid with you — I am still working to find the right balance myself. But I can offer this essential first step: permit yourself to love yourself. In certain circumstances, it is appropriate to prioritize your own needs.

True wellbeing requires what I call whole health — caring for every dimension of yourself: physical, mental, emotional, spiritual, and social. You cannot compartmentalize these areas because they are all interconnected. When one suffers, the others feel the impact.

I grew up in nursing when self-care wasn’t a priority. The ‘best’ nurses were those who stayed at work all day, missed breaks and lunches, and took full patient loads, neglecting their physical health, missing doctor’s appointments, eating poorly, and sacrificing family time and emotional wellbeing.

Fortunately, this practice is beginning to change. I’m not saying these were not great nurses who should not have been recognized for giving exceptional care. But we should have changed the messaging to emphasize that taking care of their own health, home, and family responsibilities were equally urgent parts of whole health — not competing priorities, but essential components of being able to serve others sustainably.