Meet 2023 DYA Award recipient Kelsie Salazar ’11

Posted February 21, 2023

Kelsie Salazar

For Kelsie Salazar ’11, Kansas State University was her “land of opportunity.” 

An opportunity to be challenged. 

An opportunity to discover her interests in the classroom and to explore new activities. 

An opportunity to learn from the state’s top leaders and educators, all while growing as a leader herself and acquiring the skills needed for her future in health care. 

“I will forever be grateful to all my professors, advisers, mentors and the incredible leaders at K-State who helped guide me to where I am today,” she said. 

Because of their impact, Salazar is now making an impact of her own as a registered nurse clinical care coordinator/clinical nurse educator for internal medicine at The University of Kansas Health System.

In honor of her contributions to K-State, her community and the health care profession, she is being recognized with the K-State Alumni Association Student Alumni Board's 2023 Distinguished Young Alumni Award.

Every year, the award recognizes two K-State graduates who are 35 or younger and are using the scholarship, leadership and service experience they acquired at K-State to excel in their professions and contribute to their communities. 

Get to know Salazar and learn more about her K-State connections and her career in our profile below:

What are your thoughts on receiving a Distinguished Young Alumni Award?

It is an incredible honor to receive the Distinguished Young Alumni Award from an alumni association and university who have given so much to me starting at a very young age. My dreams of becoming an RN were achieved because of the education, experiences, opportunities, leaders and friends at K-State who guided me along my career path and supported me every step of the way along my journey. Their guidance, mentorship and support didn’t end when I graduated from K-State, but rather continued when I attended nursing school.  

The K-State Alumni Association provided me with so many incredible and unique opportunities that many college students never get to experience and ones that I will cherish forever. It was through the opportunities that I was granted through involvement with the K-State Alumni Association that allowed me to develop lasting mentorships, friendships and a support system that have continued to help me in my career and life today. K-State was the place where I discovered who I was, what I wanted in my life and career, and granted me the tools to reach my dreams.   

What are some of the things you learned during your time at K-State?

At K-State, the opportunities and adventures are endless. You want to take advantage of all that you can and meet as many people as you can while staying focused on your studies. I quickly learned the importance of time management and organization that helped keep me on track with my studies, but also be able to enjoy all the opportunities K-State has to offer.

I always knew I would be a Wildcat and study at K-State, but being a pre-nursing student and knowing I would have to leave to attend nursing school elsewhere, I needed to have a plan. The incredible advisers in the College of Health and Human Sciences helped me build a career path that would allow me to engage in courses that not only interested me but ensured my competitiveness and uniqueness as a nursing school applicant, all while fulfilling my undergraduate requirements. My dream was not only to be accepted into nursing school but to have the full K-State experience. My advisers were instrumental in developing an individualized plan that helped me reach all my dreams.

The unique and abundant amount of leadership opportunities and activities allowed me to grow and develop as an individual, leader and teammate. Through the various honor societies, Human Ecology Council and Student Alumni Board, I had many opportunities to work with various student leaders who challenged me as well as helped me develop my personal leadership style and communication skills. We pushed each other, challenged each other and became better leaders through our collaboration. Even today, I get to work alongside some of my favorite K-State nurses who started the journey with me.

How has your K-State experience impacted your career or made a difference in your life?

There is no place like K-State where you have all the opportunities and experiences you can imagine at your fingertips to challenge you, excite you and lead you in the direction of making all your dreams come true, all while having the experiences of a lifetime. K-State provided an environment that created that “small town feel” yet offered all the opportunities of a major university that would challenge me, teach me leadership and communication skills, time-management and personal development.  

Right off the bat as a freshman, I was able to become involved in Human Ecology Council as a member and Student Governing Association as an intern. Both taught me the value and importance of developing leadership and communication skills and working as a team to make decisions for the betterment of my peers. The K-State Alumni Association offered me the opportunity to also serve my peers and the university through student recruitment and retention. It also provided the unique opportunity to work with Alumni Association administration, staff and prominent alumni.  

Overall, K-State truly is a family and provided me with a home away from home. It gave me a family of students, faculty, staff, advisers and incredible alumni that supported me, challenged me and mentored me through my four years at K-State, helping me become the person I am today and who continue to support me to this day. K-State is pure magic and I hope my children get to experience the same magic someday.

What are your career goals for the future?

My career goals for the future are to continue to mentor and educate future registered nurses and those entering the nursing field. As health care continues to evolve and grow in complexity, my hope is that I can help guide those in the nursing field towards developing a successful and meaningful practice for themselves and their patients. Also, as our society continues to live longer and develop more serious health needs, I hope to encourage our youth to explore career paths in health care and to help meet the needs of our aging population.

What advice would you offer to other young K-State alumni?

Take advantage of every opportunity, experience or new adventure life presents you with because you never know where it might lead you. I set out on a very specific career path that I was more than determined to make happen, but suddenly realized it wasn’t the path for me. I chose to take a chance on a new opportunity that ended up being a huge blessing in my life and has now led me to my career today that I get to share with incredible teammates who I have been with the past nine years. Never give up on your dreams, but always be open to new life experiences or opportunities as you never know where it might lead you.

Learn more about the DYA program