BECKLEY, W. Va. — At the WVU School of Nursing Beckley Campus, nursing is a shared passion across generations for Jess Mason and her daughter, Haley. Together, they share a commitment to caring for others.
Nursing was never just a career for Jess; it was something she had been living long before she ever stepped into a classroom.
“When we took care of family members, we did it at home,” she said. “I was always involved with caring for people… and I loved it.”
But the path to becoming a nurse didn’t come easily. After starting school years earlier, Jess was forced to put her plans on hold when her program lost accreditation, costing her nearly all of her credits. At the same time, she was raising her daughter, Haley.
“I had her when I was 20,” she said. “Once I got her big enough that I could focus… then I would go back and do nursing.”
For a decade, Jess worked as a pharmacy technician while raising Haley, waiting for the right time to return to school. Eventually, she enrolled at the WVU School of Nursing Beckley Campus, located at WVU Tech, balancing coursework, clinicals, and motherhood. The experience was anything but easy.
“I cried a lot,” she admitted. “I would stay up till three or four in the morning… but I wasn’t missing a play, a game, a school function.”
On the day she graduated, Haley gave her a note Jess still remembers: “Even though I know you did not have time,” it read, “you always made time.”
“I lost a lot of time with her,” Jess said. “But being able to provide for her now is much more comfortable than what we used to do. It was worth it.”
While Jess was navigating nursing school, Haley was quietly watching. Haley had always felt pulled toward helping others, and over time, that calling became clearer.
“I think my favorite thing in the world is being able to take care of people,” Haley said. “And I love kids more than I love anything.”
Though witnessing her mother’s journey gave her insight into the realities of nursing, Haley says the decision was ultimately her own. Now, accepted into the WVU School of Nursing, ready to follow in her mother’s footsteps at the Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) program, Haley is eager to move beyond the classroom and into hands-on care.
“You can only learn so much in a classroom,” she said. “I feel like you really learn when you’re in clinicals.”
Today, their shared path in nursing has created a bond that goes beyond family.
“It gives me somebody directly to go to with any question,” Haley said. “Few people know how stressful this is.”
Jess agreed, noting how rare it is to have someone who truly understands the emotional weight of the profession.
Still, Jess carries both pride and concern as her daughter enters the field.
“It’s a very hard environment right now,” she said. “There are days I’ve had horrible shifts that I can’t imagine Haley having to go through.”
But her confidence in Haley outweighs her fear.
“I know she can handle it,” Jess said. “We raised her that way.”
For both mother and daughter, WVU has become more than just a school, it’s a shared foundation.
“Having such a great program this close to us is such a blessing,” Jess said.
And for Haley, watching her mother succeed made the path feel possible.
“I got to see firsthand what the program actually is,” she said. “And I could say, I can do that.”
-WVU-
bc/4/2/26
MEDIA CONTACT:
Wendy Holdren
Director of Communications and Marketing
WVU School of Nursing
304-581-1772; wendy.holdren@hsc.wvu.edu