For several of the upcoming OSU Institute of Technology Nursing graduates, joining the nursing ranks is just like joining the family business.

Katie Meeks, Joshua Crittenden and Sianna Bates, who will graduate on Dec. 16, will also take part in a nursing school tradition— the pinning ceremony. And all three will have their mothers, who are also nurses, pin them during the ceremony taking place at 10 a.m., in Covelle Hall.

In Meeks’ case, it’s multigenerational.

“My mom is a nurse and my grandmother was a nurse,” she said.

All three said getting through the nursing program is tougher than anyone realizes.

“The only people who understand it are people who have gone through it. One of my sisters is graduating with me. My mom is a nurse so she understands, but you also get little sympathy,” Crittenden joked.

Bates had a similar sentiment.

“I don’t think you can get through the program without support from family and friends,” she said.

That supports includes those from their fellow nursing students.

“We’ve made some really good friends,” Crittenden said.

When it comes to their pinning ceremony, all three said they’re ready.

“It’s exciting. It will be emotional, but also relieving because it will be done,” Crittenden said.

Bates said she is sure she’ll feel a lot of emotions during her pinning.

“It will be emotionally draining, frightening because it’s something new, and exciting too because our lives are getting ready to change,” she said.