His professors call him a student advocate, a community asset, a natural-born leader. His peers call him a ladies' man, a master chef, a confidant. For someone with so many different identities, it's surprising how easy it is to get to know College of Nursing senior Timothy Shi. His charismatic smile, jocular personality and unassuming air seem to promise no surprise attacks — exactly the kind of quality needed to be a great nurse.
Long before a personality test labeled him a "caregiver," Shi decided to dedicate himself to the world of nursing. But it hasn't been easy — responsibilities pile high.
"You have to look out for a patient," he said. "You have to know everything about their disease. You know more about the patient than the doctor does."
After spending the summer of his junior year on the leukemia and lymphoma floor at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, Shi recalled his first day on the job when a patient told his doctor that he had given up.
"I almost cried," he said. "We had to break it to the family that he was just done. It's just seeing the family. You can't tell a loved one that he's going to die. It's just hard."
Mentally and physically taxing, nursing at times forced Shi to work 12 hours at a time, unable to even sit down. Still, Shi's passion has only grown.
"You had to haul ass," Shi said. "But I absolutely loved it."
Taking his passion for helping others to college, Shi joined the NYU College of Nursing and was elected president of the Undergraduate Nursing Student Organization his junior and senior year. Under his leadership, the group has risen from obscurity to host 10 to 12 nursing events per semester and create a sense of identity among nursing students.
Always after the greater good for the greatest number of people, Shi worked tirelessly to expand the influence of underrepresented nursing students. He is currently working to establish the first senator position on the University Senate for nursing students.
Shi also became the undergraduate representative on the Council of Ethics and Professionalism for NYUCN, a member of the Dean's Search Committee and a cofounder of Men Entering Nursing and the Asian Pacific Islander Nursing Student Association.
And with his little remaining free time, Shi serves as philanthropy programming chair of Sigma Phi Epsilon — the group behind NYU's first Undie Run in 2010.
So what about fun? For the second-place winner of NYU's 2009 Master Chef competition, just talking about food brightens his face. But like his work with nursing, selflessness is natural for Shi in his free time. He especially finds joy in seeing others enjoy his cooking.
"When I finish cooking for a big meal, I'm always not hungry," Shi said with a chuckle. "I just like watching people eat my food."
In a previous version of this article, WSN inaccurately reported that Timothy Shi is a CAS senior. In fact, he is a College of Nursing senior. WSN also inaccurately reported that Shi established the first senator position on the University Senate for nursing students. In fact, he is currently working to establish the position. WSN regrets the errors
