Jackson Free Press

William Wesley Thomas, 28, is the first nursing student at the University of Mississippi Medical Center to be elected the Associated Student Body president since the School of Nursing's establishment in 1948. He will be sworn in as president for the 2017-2018 school year.

"I would like to see the nursing school gain a better presence on campus," Thomas says. "I want to see it come out of its bubble like I did."

Thomas, a Ridgeland native, began nursing school at UMMC in May 2016. He will receive his bachelor's degree in nursing next year.

While he says the election was brutal, it was also fun and worth it in the process because he got to test his limits, meet people from all of the schools, and gain the encouragement and support of faculty.

"One of the greatest qualities about UMMC is that it's a collaborative hospital," Thomas says. "Rather than hierarchy, ideas are able to be fleshed out. In the nursing school, we are taught to be advocates for our patients and ourselves, and we are encouraged to speak up. That's what stands out to me about UMMC as a whole and the School of Nursing."

Many doctors in the School of Nursing encourage him, but for Thomas, Dr. Josie Bidwell stands out. He says Bidwell, who is a nurse practitioner, takes on many roles and gives 100-percent effort in every one of them.

"My teachers really have taught me a lot about leadership," Thomas says. "Seeing Dr. Bidwell as a high achiever made me want to achieve the most I could, so I just started throwing myself into everything."

Thomas says he finds excitement in his additional roles as a class president, parliamentarian for the School of Nursing student body, secretary for Mississippi Association of Student Nurses and the student representative for the undergraduate curriculum committee. He will also become the ambassador for the School of Nursing in late February.

Outside school, Thomas participates in cooking and workout classes, and tutors students across the Jackson metro area. "I'm dedicated to what I do," Thomas says. "I don't take on jobs lightly. I research and analyze so I usually know what I'm getting into."

Ruthlessly prioritizing and color-coding events in his calendar are a couple of the ways he stays on top of it all. With enough dedication, prioritization, hard work and ultimately belief in oneself, anything is possible, Thomas says.