Our ReConnected Participant, Meghan Ince on the front lines of the corona virus

Meghan Ince (RH'15) is a nursing student and is currently serving our country near the front lines of the Corona Virus crisis.

 "My paternal grandmother is Hungarian." Explains Meghan. She was from the city of Zenta, which was in Southwestern Hungary and is now Senta, Serbia. 

Meghan and her cousin Katie Eszes went on Reconnect Hungary together in 2015. "Going with her (Katie), we were able to meet our relatives there for the first time ever. That was the biggest highlight for me. Of course the country was beautiful, the food incredible, the music was enchanting, the history was so intense and complicated. I ate it all up."

Since going on the trip, Meghan has been more involved with her local Hungarian community in New Jersey. " I’ve been involved in the Pálinka Festival in Linden, NJ as well as the Hungarian festival in New Brunswick (a historically Hungarian area of NJ)."

Meghan has also been spreading the word about ReConnect: " I honestly talk about the program whenever I hear someone our age mention they’re Hungarian or if someone’s traveled there. I just jump at the opportunity I can’t help it. It was so meaningful for me to be able to experience where my grandmother was from." (Thank you!).

Meghan is currently a nursing unit secretary on a COVID unit at a local hospital. In addition, she is  still a student, completing her studies at HMH JFK Muhlenberg Nursing School, the same school her mom attended and the school attached to the hospital where she was born.

Meghan says right now things are "really, really hard" as she is surrounded by the mass infections, casualties and human suffering resulting from this pandemic. "My coworkers are getting sick. We’re all constantly on edge...It took me a full 48 hours to process my previous shifts."  

To end this profile on a lighter note, Meghan shared this story about a Hungarian she met on rotation at the hospital:

"I was at clinical in the hospital last weekend. One of my classmates said his patient was very agitated and uncooperative. Come to find out, the patient was Hungarian. My classmate asked me if I would just come talk to the patient, maybe help him feel a little more comfortable. So I obliged.
All I said was “szia, hogy vagy?” And the SMILE this patient gave me, almost made me cry. Their family was so happy to see him smiling too.

I ended up explaining about the program to their daughter and granddaughter. It was a wonderful connection. I checked on them again the next day when I was working to see how they were.
I never would’ve had the confidence to just go in there and share my experience with someone had it not been for the program. "

Thank you Meghan, for your hard work, dedication and selflessness. Stay safe and well!