Following a severe health scare, Dalee Higgins '25 decided to change majors, leaning on the support of faculty to carve a new path toward becoming a nurse who would offer patients the care and support she received.

For Higgins, coming to University of the Pacific as a business major was a no-brainer. Her parents were both in the industry and she was natural right away. Her grades were great, the work felt easy to her and a future career in the field felt attainable. But something was missing.

“I wasn't sure what I wanted to do. I thought a business major was the safe choice. The first semester I was at Pacific, I had an accounting class I thought was going to be the worst thing ever, and I'd always heard so many people struggle through it. For some reason, it just clicked for me. I finished with over 100% in the class, and the professor came up to me and told me I should pursue accounting. I remember leaving and calling my mom, and saying ‘Mom, this is absolutely the worst thing I've ever done. I'm not doing this for my life. There's no way,’” Higgins said.

While nursing had been a dream of hers, Higgins didn’t think it was a viable path.

“I always wanted to be in the nursing or medical field, but I was always squeamish, afraid of needles, hated blood. I was the worst patient growing up. The little kid throwing up at the doctor's office—that was me. I wasn't sure I would be able to handle nursing even though in the back of my head, I wanted it.”

Haley had no idea that soon, she would be spending more in doctor’s offices.

During her sophomore year, Higgins began to experience intense symptoms that had her frequenting the emergency room. Her Pacific community rallied to help her through the doctor’s appointments and offer support as she waited for answers.

“I live out of state of California, so it was hard enduring that and not having my family. My teammates and professors were my two biggest sources of support. They really looked out for me. I also made friends with the people at the Wellness Center, I was a frequent flyer in there, but they were always so wonderful to me and willing to help. It just meant the world, especially being away from home,” she said.

During this time, Higgins was getting numerous tests and having her blood drawn. Slowly, she became acclimated to needles and blood, and the fear that had deterred her from pursuing a nursing career began to ebb.

She decided to switch majors, earning a Bachelor of Arts in Liberal Studies, and adding a second degree to support her goal of becoming a nurse. Working with Associate Dean Cynthia Dobbs, she leveraged the existing credits she had toward her new major. Pacific not only empowered Higgins to switch majors smoothly, but also gave her the autonomy to create a major that would position her for success.

“I ended up with a Bachelor of Science in self-designed nursing studies that was focused on the biology aspect, and it allowed me to take all the prerequisites I needed to pursue nurse practitioner school. I sent in all my applications in hopes that I would just get one acceptance somewhere, because the medical field at the graduate school level is tough to get into, and I was overwhelmed with honor and joy and gratitude to end up where I'm going.”

Higgins completed her program and had the honor of being the student speaker for College of the Pacific at 2025 commencement.

“I was shocked, honestly, when I got it, but I was really humbled and excited. Being up there was really cool. Getting to share a little piece of my story and remind students that one struggle or hardship or whatever you go through is not what defines you, and that life is hard, but it's the hard that makes it great.”

This summer, Higgins is packing up and moving to Connecticut to start on her journey toward becoming a nurse practitioner at Yale University. Reflecting on her transition from business major to nursing, she believes hands-on experience like she had at Pacific can be a path forward.

“It’s okay to not know what you want to do. I don't know why they expect us to figure out what we want to do for the rest of our life at 18 years old, that's crazy to me. My mom always told me: whatever you choose to do can just be what you do first. It doesn't have to be what you do forever, but I think it's so important to not worry about it, to get out there and get experience. It's important to learn what you like and don't like, and eventually you will fall right into place.”