Class of 1963: Alumna Combines Nursing Career with Life Adventures in Theater and in the Air
“I had some really wonderful experiences throughout my nursing career, and it gave me flexibility for my family and my other interests.”
Cherill Wilcox Colson taught sailing, traveled as a TWA flight attendant, danced in musical 
productions, worked as a wardrobe mistress for a local theater company, and raised two children--in addition to her decades-long nursing career that began at the University of Michigan School of Nursing.
“When I did my psych training at Michigan, I chose the child psychiatric unit and that just hooked me,” says Dr. Colson, a member of UMSN’s Class of 1963. “Nursing allows you to do so many things, but I knew I wanted to work on a child psychiatric unit.”
She sites her time at Langley Porter Psychiatric Hospital in California as some of the most meaningful years of her career. “I felt we did a lot of good for those children,” she says. Dr. Colson went on to work in the child psychiatric units of several hospitals while continuing her education, earning both her master’s and doctoral degrees and was certified as a Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Clinical Specialist by the American Nurses Association (ANA).
“Being a U of M grad prepares one for future academia and educating the next generation of nurses,” says Dr. Colson, who taught at Columbia University School of Nursing, the City University of New York’s Lehman College, and Hostos Community College. She also wrote several chapters for nursing text books focused on child psychology.
Dr. Colson says the flexibility of a nursing career was valuable to her family life. She met her husband, David Colson, while they were both at U-M and in the Musket Society, a student-run musical theatre organization. While her husband pursued his acting career, on Broadway and in soap operas and local theatre, Dr. Colson says she was always able to find a nursing job to fit her family’s needs. “When I was in Florida, my husband had Mondays off so I worked floating, so I could have Mondays off too.”
Of her brief career detour as a flight attendant after graduation, Dr. Colson says, “I always wanted to try it. It was really fun in those days being a stewardess, living in New York, and flying around.” But Dr. Colson says she knew nursing was where she was meant to be.
Dr. Colson served as chair of Advocates for Child Psychiatric Nursing and says a trip to Russia with the organization is one of her most memorable career moments. “It was part of an educational tour on standards of nursing practice. I had an article in the first nursing journal ever published in Russia. Of course I had to pay to have it translated, but it was very exciting,” Dr. Colson laughed.
Dr. Colson’s skill at multitasking has been going strong since her days at UMSN. “When I was at Michigan, if you had a B average, you could work extra hours at the hospital,” says Colson. “On Friday, I would go to a TGIF party. I didn’t drink anyway so I could go work at the hospital at night. I would work until the morning, take a quick nap, and then go to the football game.”
“It was a great education,” says Colson. “I was always appreciative of everything I learned. The faculty was great. It was a wonderful experience. I’m looking forward to seeing the hospital now and all my classmates at the reunion.”
Colson plans to participate in UMSN’s 2013 Homecoming Reunion Weekend, October 4-5. Open to all UMSN alumni, there will be special events for those celebrating their 50-year reunion.
