DYNAMIC WOMEN 2001: MARY HAGEDORN

"Nursing is a very rewarding profession. I love the gift of touching children's lives, seeing them grow, healthy."

That's Mary Hagedorn, nurse, as she talks about her career and life, and what's it like to receive the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners-Colorado Affiliate, Outstanding Nurse

Mary calls herself, simply, nurse, when in fact she is a native-born Coloradan with BA, Masters and Ph.D. She is currently a nurse practitioner at Colorado Springs Health Partners, PC, practicing pediatric health care. "I always wanted to be a nurse. Working with kids helps motivate you ... it gives you the opportunity to be intimate with the family," she said. "Suffering can bring cohesiveness. Children are amazing, they always want everyone else to feel okay. They are the ones that can let go easily. I consider it a gift to have shared in some of those last moments."

Her own childhood, she admits, was very poor but loving. Mary was the youngest of eight children and was told quite early that she was too poor and didn't have the grades to go to college. Mary's mother told her she could do anything she wanted, so Mary worked hard and got into the University of Colorado in Denver. Her first job was in pediatric intensive care, and her career with children began. She continued nursing after marrying a Navy man, Tim, while moving up and down the coast of California. They came back to Colorado Spri ngs in 1980, and he eventually got a job at IBM , and she is still nursing and still married after 24 years. Mary and Tim have two chil dren, two dogs and "the gift of good friends."

"My son is getting ready to go to college and wants to be a teacher. It's what he wants to do. I told him to follow his heart, and that's what he's doing."

He must have inherited that gene from his mother, who admits there is a similarity. Both, she says, do things that are largely invisible to the public, and people don't realize how large an impact the giving professions make.

Along with the simple pleasures of family, reading a good book and fishing, she is a volunteer with the Adopt-a-School program, as well as being one of the creators of the Fountain-Fort Carson school based health clinic. There, they treat indigent and uninsured school age children, and they recently received grant awards in the amount of $750,000 due largely in part to Mary's efforts. Mary has some advice for anyone won, dering about their path in life: "Dream about it, actualize it, then adapt your plan as things change. Life," she says, "will have detours and will offer you a challenge. You have to learn to face them then keep on going."