SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WWLP) – Twenty-eight American International College nursing students will be pinned at a ceremony on Friday.

After finishing their classes at the American International College (AIC) School of Health Sciences Division of Nursing, twenty-eight AIC nursing students will be participating in a pinning ceremony, which is an honor that students are welcomed into the profession of nursing, according to a news release from AIC. The ceremony is a rite of passage that many nurses value more than their school’s graduation ceremony.

These nursing students started their college education at a time when the healthcare system experienced dramatic changes in 2020 due to Covid-19. During the Nursing Pinning Ceremony, students will receive the AIC nursing pin, which symbolizes the ideals of the College, such as the tenants of social justice.

The pin resembles the name of the College and its motto, post tenebras lux, a Latin phrase that translates to after darkness, light. This message means that students will enter a new world born through education.

The pinning dates to the Crusades when the Maltese Cross was awarded as a symbol of service and honor. Florence Nightingale was considered the founder of modern nursing and perpetuated the awarding of pins at The Nightingale School of Nursing.

The pinning ceremony will be held on Friday at 9:30 a.m. at the Esther B. Griswold Theatre at AIC.