Each year, Indiana University Indianapolis awards 100 undergraduate students as Top 100 honorees, each recognized for their academic excellence, campus leadership, and community engagement. Among these students, 10 seniors are selected for the highest student honor, the Top 10. This year, three School of Nursing students—Roxanne Bewley, Jo Harlan, and Isaac Onwodi—earned a place among them and were honored during the IU Indianapolis Honors Convocation held on April 11.
We sat down with each student to learn more about their experiences and the inspirations that have guided them to this milestone.
Roxanne Bewley
During Roxanne Bewley’s time at IU Indianapolis, she set out to find a place in her community. She credits her extracurricular involvements with helping her break out of her shell. Bewley has been a mentor as a part of the Honors College, as well as with the Student Nurses Association’s peer mentor program, and is the SNA co-president and treasurer of the Indiana Association of Nursing Students (IANS).
"I came into college as a very quiet, reserved individual,” Bewley said. “Through gradually pushing myself outside of my comfort zone and becoming more involved and observing all these different organizations, I’ve been able to become more confident in my voice and my leadership.”
Bewley’s involvement isn’t just relegated to local experience. With IANS, which she said helped improve her team building and organization skills, she was able to attend conventions in Orlando and Seattle. She also did a study abroad trip in 2024 to Norway and Sweden, where she admired their focus on prevention of health problems.
“It was my first time leaving the country, and I had the opportunity to explore a new culture as well as compare and contrast the healthcare systems in Scandinavia and the United States,” she recalled. “I will be able to translate this knowledge into my upcoming career as a nurse. They really prioritize the care of their citizens throughout each step of their journey. They have a lot of good preventative services, as well as community-based services.”
Most recently, she spent the summer interning at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota, where she was assigned to the pre-op and post-anesthesia care units.
Across all the different leadership and travel opportunities, not only has Bewley been able to break out of her shell, but she’s been able to synthesize her lessons from each experience into deciding what kind of nurse she wants to be after graduation in May.
After graduation, she plans to become an ICU nurse where she can advocate for patients in vulnerable situations, much like she did at the Mayo Clinic.
"One of the main reasons I got into nursing is that I want to be that voice and advocate for a patient. I feel like I can translate these skills into my future nursing practice. That’s the biggest takeaway for me.”
Being named as a Top 10 student is motivating to Bewley going forward. To her, it means her work doesn’t go unnoticed. Among other mentors, friends, and family, that encouragement from her honors professor, Erica Biederman, anatomy professor and faculty mentor Michael Yard, and Emily Clossin have helped shape her as a student and a nurse.
“I am grateful for the support of friends, family, mentors, preceptors, and faculty, especially as a first-generation student. I look forward to continuing to impact healthcare and the community in the future.”
Jo Harlan
As a first-generation college student, Jo Harlan worked to get the most out of her time at IU Indianapolis. She’s served as a summer resident assistant, a mentor and outreach assistant for the THRIVE program, and is a lead ambassador with Foster Success, a nonprofit that supports young adults transitioning from foster care to adulthood. After being in foster care herself, it was important to her to be involved with foster youth to help make their lives better.
One of the ways she’s been able to drive change for youth in foster care was by presenting policy suggestions at the Indiana Statehouse in January of this year.
The project, which initially started in May of 2025, involved Harlan and other Foster Success members pitching legislation ideas in small groups. Because of her nursing focus as well as her minor in medical sociology, Harlan and her group wanted to present legislation that would allow older foster youth to access their medical records, including any diseases they might be more susceptible to or might pass along to their children in the future.
“Medical information is very important, especially for people who don’t have access to their family’s health history,” she said. “Knowing what diseases they may be susceptible to, like Huntington’s disease or Alzheimer’s, can really have an impact on life.”
Harlan has also learned more about what kind of nurse she would like to be while on study abroad trips to Switzerland, Norway and Sweden, and Mexico.
On her recent study abroad trip to Mexico, she admired how the care given by the nurses was community-focused and compassionate and hopes to incorporate the same warmth into her nursing approach.
“We got to explore one of the community clinics, and that was amazing, we just took a walk around the community to see who it served,” she said. “Often times people just need more empathy and compassion, and it’s really nice to see that in a different country. Hopefully as I become a nurse, I’m able to provide that level of compassion.”
Harlan will be working in Franciscan Health’s bone marrow transplant unit after graduation. Her goal for the future, she says, is to become a SANE (Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner) nurse and combine her passion for nursing with advocacy. She also plans on returning to school and earning her DNP in the future, as well as continuing to advocate for patients and beneficial healthcare legislation.
As a first-generation student who spent time in foster care, being named a Top 10 student means a lot to her. Foster care youth are far less likely to earn a degree than their peers.
“Statistically speaking, my chance of graduating with a bachelor’s degree has been less than 8% because of where I come from,” Harlan said. “The message I want to get out to people is that you can do anything you want. Life does not determine you, you determine life.”
Isaac Onwodi
Isaac Onwodi has spent a large amount of his time at the School of Nursing in outreach and leadership. As an ambassador, he connects with prospective students, gives them tours, and answers questions while they navigate the transition into nursing.
Among his achievements, he is also the president of IANS, a peer tutor, a student manager for the Student Outreach Clinic, and a member of two honors societies and scholarship groups.
Onwodi’s time in these organizations has improved his confidence and shown him what’s possible. He credits Brooklyn Bussell, who was another IANS member and similarly involved as a student, with encouraging him to take advantage of all the opportunities he was given.
His leadership skills have also been nurtured during his time at the School of Nursing. As the president of IANS, he was tasked with organizing the convention in January of this year. The responsibilities included giving a welcome speech, connecting with sponsors and setting them up with tables at the event, and recruiting speakers for panels, including faculty and guest speaker Nurse Mike, who has gained a large social media following sharing nursing school tips with his audience.
“I was really nervous at the beginning, but everything just worked out,” Onwodi said. “I think that made the most impact because of the community and working together for an entire year on this convention and then seeing the fruits of our labor.”
He was first inspired to become a nurse by his mother, whose stories he grew up hearing. After seeing firsthand the impact she was able to make on patients every day as an oncology nurse, he knew he wanted to pursue a career where he was able to do the same.
Being named a Top 10 student recognizes the work Onwodi has done so far to achieve that goal.
“It recognizes the impact and people that I’ve been able to influence one of my mentees that I mentor, all of the students that I tutor, all of the students that I give tours to as a School of Nursing ambassador,” he said.
Onwodi’s future goal is to become an ICU nurse where he can help those in their most vulnerable states while also learning something new every day. He finds the complex and ever-changing nature of ICU nursing is exciting and wants to challenge himself every day.
His advice to prospective nursing students mirrors his own experience, which is all about perseverance. He says there’s nothing better than being able to make a positive impact on people’s lives.
“Nursing is something that will be worth the work that you put in.”