Paige Golden is living her dream job. She’s a pediatric travel nurse currently on an assignment in Kansas at the Hutchinson Regional Medical Center. Prior to that, her assignment was in the residential psychiatric facility of the ERC Pathlight Mood & Anxiety Center in Cockeysville, Md.
It’s an exciting career that first sparked for Paige in Mr. Carey’s 7th Grade science class at City Springs Elementary / Middle School when she scored an A+ (97%) on her exam. “With my passion for caring for others and scoring an A+ on the exam, I pondered a career path that would allow me to do both,” Paige recalls. “I decided that being a Registered Nurse is the way to go.”
CITY SPRINGS ELEMENTARY / MIDDLE SCHOOL
Kindergarten through 8th Grade, finished 2012
PAUL LAURENCE DUNBAR COMMUNITY HIGH SCHOOL FOR HEALTH PROFESSIONS
Class of 2016, four-year Biomedical Pathway
UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND SCHOOL OF NURSING, BSN
Class of 2022
Received the Great Catch Award in May 2024 for “excellence in patient care and safety” from the University of Maryland Baltimore Washington Medical Center
WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE CITY SPRINGS MEMORY?
“I was in Kindergarten when Ms. Welchel [then Principal] danced on the roof of the school to an Usher song! It was during our annual end-of-the-school year fair. It was so funny and a very fun time!”
HOW DID CITY SPRINGS PREPARE YOU?
“That answer is quite complex. My initial response is, ‘How did it not prepare me?’ Simply put, the staff there were, and I am sure still are, 1000% invested into the success of every child that came/comes through that building. I will always and forever express extreme gratitude for my kindergarten teacher turned VP and fifth grade teacher who no longer works there.
Despite not being able to appear at the 2025 8th Grade Closing Ceremony as the Keynote Speaker due to work obligations, being presented with this opportunity is a full circle moment. It is such an honor to even be considered for such. A message that I’d love to briefly get across to the graduating class is: YOU CAN & YOU WILL! If your dreams do not scare you, they are not big enough.”
WHAT WAS A TRANSFORMATIONAL MOMENT FOR YOU AT CITY SPRINGS?
“I too was just a little brown girl who thought she had it all when her parents were sacrificing their last. This little brown girl is the daughter of parents who suffer from substance abuse and poverty. That same little brown girl today is a pediatric travel nurse who aspires to do so much more!”