This spring, Healthy Living @ Himmelfarb sponsored its first Cherry Blossom Photo Contest, held in conjunction with the 2023 Annual Art Show. The photo contest is intended to celebrate the ephemeral beauty of cherry blossoms at the Tidal Basin, and entries highlighted the talents of our entire community – students, faculty, and staff.
While it was difficult to select a winner, Jeffrey Kai (Accelerated BSN candidate, School of Nursing) impressed the judges with his photograph’s composition and colors. We asked Jeffrey to tell us a little bit about himself and how he got that winning shot. Shoutout to #GWNursing, and to all nurses in honor of National Nurses Week (May 6-12, 2023).
I was serving in the United States Navy as a Hospital Corpsman when one of my fellow Sailors applied and got accepted to GW Nursing. At that point, I wanted to enhance my skills and knowledge in patient care as well, so I also applied and thankfully I got accepted, too! It took me about 5 years to prepare to get here, taking 1-2 prerequisite classes each semester while still serving in the military full-time. There were times when I was doing my class work online aboard a ship, or in the middle of the Arizona desert while doing military training. [Once I graduate,] I would like to give back by serving as a nurse to military service members, their families, and the veteran community.
How long have you been taking photographs, and what are your favorite subjects?
I have been taking photographs since high school, but I started putting more thought into it when I joined the Navy and traveled the world. I want to capture the beauty and essence of each of the places I've been to and share its magic with the rest of my friends and family near and far through social media. It's as if they were traveling with me, too. I grew up on the island of Saipan, which is part of the Northern Mariana Islands -- a U.S. territory. Not in my wildest dreams would I have thought I would be able to see all the world's amazing views! My favorite subjects are landmarks and vistas, like the National Mall and the National Parks, [such as] Zion, Sequoia, and Shenandoah.
How did you hear about the Cherry Blossom Photo Contest?
I frequently go to the Himmelfarb Health Sciences Library website for nursing school resources, specifically the Lexicomp database. [On the homepage] I saw an announcement for the Cherry Blossom Photo Contest. Since I had already planned to check out the cherry blossoms once they reached peak bloom this year, I decided to get to sleep early the night before and drive to the National Mall at 5 a.m. I started walking around the Tidal Basin at 6 a.m., not only to walk around with fewer crowds, but also to capture what photographers call the "golden hour," which is a period of beautiful, soft natural light that makes subjects not overexposed or underexposed, and usually comes with a beautiful golden hue. I took pictures of the cherry blossoms with the Jefferson Memorial in the background, and voilà, the rest is history!
What is something that people on the Foggy Bottom campus should know about the Ashburn campus?
I am very honored to be representing the Ashburn campus with this recognition and I would say that my fellow Nursing students here at VSTC are some of the most resourceful, resilient, and dedicated people I have ever met in my professional career. We always find ways to help each other and the community around us. We also like to be involved and be part of the bigger GW community at every opportunity.
It takes a lot of sacrifice sometimes to achieve your goal. Kudos to Jeffrey Kai for sticking it out despite his normal job hours.
( Great interview by the way: it captures Jeffery’s essence.)
What a beautiful photo, and what an inspiring personal journey. GW Nursing is lucky to have amazing people like this in their program, and we are all lucky to have people like Jeffrey choosing to serve as nurses. Thank you to the Himmelfarb library for telling this story.