Traditional BSN Spotlight: Mkali Breedlove-Davis

Posted on September 26, 2024 by College of Nursing

Mkali Breedlove-Davis, in nursing uniform holding her band uniform. data-lightbox='featured'

Mkali Breedlove-Davis, a senior nursing student from Birmingham, Alabama, did not have her eyes set on a job in healthcare until high school. With most of her family having a background in music, Breedlove-Davis naturally gravitated there as well and joined her middle school band in sixth grade playing the clarinet. This led to Breedlove-Davis joining the Jaguar Marching Band her freshman year at the University of South Alabama.

While taking a patient care class during her sophomore year of high school, she met her teacher who was also a nurse and found inspiration after hearing her stories and getting to experience things firsthand. Breedlove-Davis initially wanted to become a doctor, but this program helped her realize that her passion was to be more directly involved with the care plans of her patients.

Now, Breedlove-Davis is set to graduate from South in May of 2025 with a bachelor’s degree in nursing. Being a senior is extremely bittersweet for her, knowing that she will be going into a field that she has grown to love but will be leaving her love of band behind.

Mkali talking to another band member at a football game in uniform. “I love being with the band. Band is my hobby, but it can be stressful. It’s like a different type of stress, I love playing my clarinet and I love being with my band. It’s like a home away from home, I just couldn’t leave it,” Breedlove-Davis said.

As Breedlove-Davis progressed through the program, she was able to find a community in nursing, especially her classmates that are also in the band: Maya, Aeilya, Sofia, Joe, Kate, Anna and Alexa. She finds motivation and strength within her friend group as she knows she has people that she can lean on when she needs it at the end of the day.

Finding a balance between doing something you love while taking classes in nursing can be a difficult task. Before entering the nursing program, Breedlove-Davis had a mixed variety of friends who were also in band and others from her hometown. Now, her home away from home is when she is with her nursing peers. She feels closest to them based on the fact that they share the same experiences.

“I feel like throughout all of my college years, the band has been like my forever family. Now, I have a newfound family in nursing,” Breedlove-Davis said.

After learning the ropes, she explained that the most essential parts of taking on a hobby along with a major as important as nursing are both time management and finding a proper balance between all aspects of your workload. If there was any advice she could give, it would be that working through the program is a unique experience that you will learn to manage with time. However, you must make time for yourself in the process in order to succeed.

Mkali with other nursing students in uniform standing in front of the College of Nursing sign. Along with her group of friends, Breedlove-Davis found herself relying on words of advice and encouragement that her professors and mentors gave her when she first began the program. She remembers the stress she felt when she failed her first exam. However, she feels that she benefited from this loss because she gained a mentor in the process. After speaking with Dr. Debra Swanzy, an associate professor of nursing, Breedlove- Davis was able to apply the advice given to her to the rest of her time in the program. She also grew close with Dr. Shanda Scott, project director of EMPOWER and assistant professor, while in the EMPOWER program.

When she isn’t studying, working or attending band practice, Breedlove-Davis loves to cook and finds time to relax while watching her favorite TV show, “Game of Thrones.” She gets all of her best recipes from her dad, including macaroni and cheese and salmon. She claims that he is the best cook she has ever seen and hopes that she can continue to follow in his footsteps with making the best meals.

As much as she loves being involved on campus and within student life, Breedlove-Davis stresses the importance of taking care of your mental health and prioritizing yourself. However, this is something that she has not always been mindful of because of her natural mindset of taking care of others before herself.

“I have just learned about that this summer actually. I’ll put myself on the back burner, but I struggled with panic attacks and my anxiety just got through the roof. Now I’ve kind of learned I have to make sure I’m okay, especially to help other people,” Breedlove-Davis said. “Now that I’ve started it, I’m loving it. I really want to try meditating because that can give me such a big sense of peace.”

Looking towards the future, Breedlove-Davis hopes to find a job working in a pediatric intensive care unit. After completing her rotation there this summer, she found herself falling in love with getting to work closely with babies that need extra attention and are unable to advocate for themselves. As a natural born caretaker, this is something that she finds essential and important in making sure that each patient she works with is getting the best care possible.

“The ICU really tugged on my heartstrings. It’s a weird sense because you know that they are sicker than usual. My mom asked me why I would want to do that and I was just like, ‘I don’t know! It’s an odd feeling.’ They’re really sick but being able to help them means a lot because they really, really need it,” Breedlove-Davis said.

What mantra/motto inspires you each day?
“‘See yourself in a way that others may not see you,’ from Vice President Kamala Harris. I love it because I feel like there is always a stigma with certain things between band and nursing. I just always like to be that one to stick out and be better than what people might think of me.”

What is your favorite student activity at South?
“I love football! I love to watch football so much. I love to participate in the spring concerts on campus because I just love to play. I’m also in basketball band! We play all of the home games on campus during spring semester and it helps me keep that band aspect.”

What is a piece of advice that stuck out to you throughout your semesters in nursing?
“I will never forget when I failed my first patho test. I met with Dr. Swanzy and ended up crying in her office! That moment is a moment I will always take with me because she just made me feel like everything was going to be okay when I felt like my world was crashing,” Breedlove- Davis said. “Another big thing was when Dr. Scott taught me to make sure I’m ‘studied up’ two days before an exam. That definitely ties with what Dr. Swanzy said to me. Getting that advice my first semester was such a big help, I have carried that with me every semester.”

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