Kelly DiStefano of South Windsor Named One of Most Memorable Seniors at Boston College

South Windsor resident Kelly DiStefano, who graduated with a bachelor of science degree in nursing from Boston College on May 18, was named by the Boston College Chronicle as one of five “Seniors to Remember” out of a graduating class of more than 2,200 students.

DiStefano, a 2011 graduate of East Catholic High School, is the daughter of Dr. Anthony and Lizanne DiStefano of South Windsor.

DiStefano has been a four-year member of the Boston College Swimming & Diving Team, serving as Women’s Swim captain for the last two years. She was named to the ACC Academic Honor Roll. Two years ago, she received the Kevin Conway Award honoring an outstanding sophomore on the swim team.

When she was not in the pool, DiStefano was perfecting her nursing practice. She completed clinicals at Boston’s leading hospitals, including Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston Medical Center and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. She conducted her maternity rotation at a hospital in Nepal where she conducted research on the cultural barriers related to maternal mortality.

“Globally, maternal mortality – women not surviving childbirth – is a huge concern,” said DiStefano. “My intention was to see the cultural practices, behaviors and understandings that were making Nepal an unsafe place for childbirth. I was at a nursing school in Pokhara, the country’s second largest city. I saw my first live birth the minute I walked in the hospital. The topography of Nepal is challenging and not everyone lives close to a city and transportation is not always guaranteed, so there’s a tradition of birthing in the home. In Nepali tradition, there is an expectation of stoicism for women and they are expected to bear the complications of delivery quietly and independently.

“I also spent a week working at a clinic in a village that was an 11-hour journey uphill from the city. There were only two midwives to serve hundreds of villagers. The city hospital I volunteered at was participating in a safe motherhood program, offering free maternity care and travel stipends as an incentive to get women to deliver at the hospital.”

DiStefano also devoted her spring break to serving the needy through BC’s Appalachia Volunteers Program. She worked with a BC nursing professor as an Undergraduate Research Fellow, and spent a semester abroad at the University of Otago in New Zealand. She was actively involved in Athletes in Action Christian Ministry and served as a peer advisor providing guidance to first-year nursing students.

She plans to work as a maternity/perinatal nurse. “I’m excited for nursing to be my life, not just my career.”