Student Award Winners

Spring 2025 President's Award Recipient

Angie Petersen – Spring 2025 President’s Award Recipient

Long before Angie Petersen entered exam rooms and made clinical rounds, she knew she was meant to care for others.

“I just love being able to help people,” said Petersen, a student in Metropolitan State University of Denver’s accelerated Nursing program and spring 2025 recipient of the prestigious President’s Award.  “It brings me joy and kind of keeps me afloat — it’s my self-care.”

Petersen’s path to nursing wasn’t easy. A middle-school teacher once told her she had no future in science. Later, she juggled homeschooling two children while pursuing her degree. Then came her husband’s diagnosis with a rare, fatal blood cancer — a life altering challenge that tested her resilience.

When she discovered MSU Denver’s 17-month accelerated Nursing program, Petersen found more than just a fast track to a new career — she found her purpose. “Having that deeper connection with patients makes the difference,” she said.

Encouraged by one of her husband’s doctors, Petersen pursued the medical field with new determination. Even while navigating her husband’s complex treatment — including multiple hospitalizations and the stress of septic shock, the leading cause of death for those with her husband’s type of cancer — she excelled in the classroom and in clinicals.

Service has been a throughline in her life. She has volunteered at long-term-care facilities, organized nonprofit fundraisers and supported her family through 11 years of cancer treatment. “I’m realizing more and more this is my calling,” she said.

Faith, she added, has carried Petersen through the most difficult days. “I went from ‘How can I do this?’ to ‘How can I grow from this and help others?’” she said.

After graduation, Petersen hopes to continue her education. She is considering specialties such as oncology or hospice care. Whatever path she takes, she plans to lead with empathy.

“Because of my experience as a caretaker, I understand what my patients and their families are going through,” she said. “It’s humbling to be able to help on that deeper level.”

Spring 2025 Provost's Award Recipient

Hailey Glass 

For Metropolitan State University of Denver student Hailey Glass, being a changemaker is about action, empathy and small steps that lead to meaningful impact.

Glass, a Political Science major with a Legal Studies minor and the spring 2025 recipient of the Provost’s Award, has been advocating for others since elementary school. But when she arrived at MSU Denver, she began questioning the effectiveness of her leadership.

“I was involved and doing things, but I wasn’t getting anything done,” she said. The loss of a close cousin deepened her frustration and inspired her to join the University’s Urban Leadership Program. There, she encountered a phrase that reshaped her outlook: “It is not enough to be an ally; you must be a co-conspirator.”

“That really changed my life,” she said. “Before, I didn’t understand what true advocacy looked like. It’s about working alongside people, not just telling them what they need.”

Glass threw herself into service and campus leadership, volunteering with Indigenous women in Guatemala, participating in student government and rebranding the sustainability committee to focus on both environmental issues and student needs such as food and housing.

Among her proudest accomplishments are organizing free grocery and blanket distributions, connecting immigrant students to free legal consultations and helping to promote MSU Denver’s Know Your Rights initiative.

Coming from a low-income background, Glass worked full time while balancing academics and service. She says her experiences have helped her connect more deeply with the University community.

“It was a breath of fresh air to come to MSU Denver and realize there are so many people like me,” she said.

After graduation, Glass plans to attend law school, possibly focusing on environmental law. But she’ll carry her lessons in advocacy no matter what path she takes.

“Change isn’t always a huge movement,” she said. “If I can make one person feel seen or supported, that’s making change.”