The Beauty in Timing

Life events, timing and who you meet sometimes seem random and unremarkable. Other times, they line up in unexplainable ways that put into motion the story of your life. Some call it coincidence, some call it fate—Katrin Arango Martins ’22 calls them “God moments.”

Martins’ story begins like many others: a high school student who felt rudderless and resourceless in looming college decisions. Her natural servant’s heart landed her at Rhodes College in Tennessee, where she was a Bonner Scholar, a program where students combine a strong commitment to service and social justice with personal growth, teamwork, leadership development and scholarship.

After the first year, Martins loved Bonner Scholars, but Rhodes was not a good fit, and she contemplated leaving. Her Bonner director encouraged her to spend spring break serving in eastern Kentucky. At the end of that week, Martins knew she would leave college, and at the prompting of the eastern Kentucky service director, she decided to join AmeriCorps.

“I did a year with AmeriCorps with the Christian Appalachian Project (CAP), which brought me to the Johnson County and Floyd County areas—but there is nothing to do in those areas,” Martins recalled about the social opportunities nearby.

Colleagues at another volunteer house in Mount Vernon invited the CAP members to contra dance with them in Berea once a month.

“They always asked if I was a student for a student discount,” Martins said. “I joked, ‘No, but I’ll take the discount.’  At the end of my year of service, I was contemplating what to do next. We went dancing again, and I asked someone, ‘When you’re asking about being a student, what are you asking about?’ They said, ‘Just down the street is Berea College.’ I had never heard of it.”

Interested in nursing, Martins looked into Berea College, discovered its nursing program, applied and was accepted. Little did she know she was also coming back to the heart of Bonner Scholars, which began at Berea College.

“Berea was such a second chance at life,” Martins said. “I felt the need to make it worth it and make it count.”

Though a student in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, at Berea, Martins participated in the Folk Roots Ensemble and contra dancing, worked in Student Craft and was even able to use the weaving studio space to sew her own wedding dress after hours. But it was the thorough, hands-on training she received in her nursing studies that propelled her into a career.

“The Nursing department did an incredible job making sure we were doing in-person clinicals,” Martins said. “Being in person and keeping as much normalcy as possible made a huge difference. A lot of other students did virtual work, and it showed in their clinical abilities. That made a big difference in the way nurses saw me and the patients they trusted me with. It really did set me apart from the get-go compared to other new graduates, post-COVID.”

Her exceptional abilities and strong internal motivation enabled her to advance rapidly in her career. She moved to Maryland with her new husband and started working in a medical ICU residency program. Within a year, Martins had earned her critical care nursing certification (CCRN) and a sub-specialty in cardiac medicine. 

I worked my way up very quickly, but I burnt myself out a little—I got a little tired,” Martins said. “It’s hard when you’re highly motivated to not work yourself into the ground.”

Though she still planned to return to anesthesia school, she chose to take some time away from the high stress of the ICU. She eventually found herself in an outpatient clinic where she met Larry Shinn, Hon. ’08. Shinn had also recently moved to Maryland and was undergoing treatment for his second battle with cancer.

Martins says she and Shinn’s first meeting was unremarkable, but the second time he came to the clinic, another patient was present who loved to ask questions and provide opinions on how to fix others’ lives. After getting Shinn’s treatment started, Martins retreated to her computer and listened to the conversation between Shinn and the other patient.

“Larry was so polite, so calm and so patient, and when I looked at his face as he listened to her—taking her in—there was no condescension in his face,” Martins recalled. “That’s what I think about when I think about him. People would say, ‘If you argue with Larry, you’d better know your stuff. Now I see it.”

As the conversation between Shinn and the patient evolved, he explained that he had worked in academia most of his career and would be happy to read any research she wanted to share with him, as Martins chuckled lightly to herself behind her computer. As the other patient continued, Shinn added, ‘Not only was I in academia, I was a professor at Oberlin College and the president at Berea College.’ At this, Martins came out of her seat and exclaimed, “‘What did you say?’” Immediately she added, ‘I graduated from Berea!’”

“After that, we yapped away, and he looked at me and said, ‘Would you be my nurse every time I come here?’ and I said, ‘Absolutely!’ Martins recalled. “So, every session he’d come in, and we would talk about anything and everything.”

Over time, Martins got to know Nancy and Christy, Shinn’s wife and daughter. They talked about Berea, and she came to understand what was truly important to Shinn and what brought him joy in life.

“Larry did not have the illusion of having a long life, but he wanted as many good days as possible,” Martins said. “He loved being in a multigenerational home with his daughter, granddaughters and grandbaby, and that baby brought him so much joy.”

Shinn, who had served as Berea College’s president from 1994-2012, passed away this past April, and Martins attended both the funeral in Maryland and the memorial service held in Berea this summer.

“Someone said, ‘I think you were the last Berean [Larry] got to know,’” Martins recalled. “Nancy said she thought it meant a lot to him. Of all the nurses and all the places—he and I had just moved to Maryland—I was just burnt out and found my way to this clinic. People ask if God exists, and I say, how could he not?

“[Larry] helped me love nursing again,” she added. “Taking that yearlong break, I can’t think of a better reason than to meet Larry Shinn. It happened at just the right time. God knew what he was doing.”

In the time since their chance meeting and budding friendship began, Martins has returned to working in a hospital full-time, participating in an open-heart program. She is planning to return to school and is actively applying to programs. She has continued to stay connected with Nancy and Christy, check in on Nancy and have lunch with her from time to time.

“The biggest thing for me is just that there is a ton of credit given to the way Larry saw the importance of letting go of life and enjoying as much as he could,” Martins said. “There was an immense amount of love and respect that had to be there for Nancy and his daughters to support that decision. Larry was so at peace with the life he had lived and his journey, and he had enjoyed life thoroughly with Nancy, and he knew what he wanted. To have family that loves and supports you all the way through that decision is not common.”