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Balance. Support. Cooperation. Grace under fire.
Marissa Wanker needs all of these in two prominent areas of her life.
As a senior Nursing major at Edinboro, Wanker will soon be on the frontlines of impacting human life – learning to balance an encyclopedic knowledge of medicine with a comforting bedside manner.
As a professional powerlifter, the Spartansburg, Pa., native thrusts nearly 1,200 pounds of metal in the air while battling the anxiety of the spotlight. However, Wanker finds a complementary balance that drives her to greatness.
“People talk about how powerlifting is a solo sport. And you need a team of people that you trust to support you and be ready to grab the weights and talk you through it,” Wanker said. “And I try to take that sort of energy into nursing, too. Because even during nursing clinicals we get caught in a situation that we’re not expecting.”
So far at Edinboro, Wanker has completed clinical rotations in Erie, Pa., at Allegheny Health Network St. Vincent Hospital on the rehabilitation floor and at UPMC Hamot in the maternal fetal unit.
This balance immediately came into play during a recent clinical experience at UPMC Hamot, where Wanker spent nearly five hours caring for an expectant mother who was experiencing intense morning sickness.
While administering care and overseeing the patient’s vital signs, Wanker also created a close bond through comforting conversations. Despite the brief relationship, the expectant mother gratefully complimented Wanker’s bedside manner to her immediate supervisor.
“But every little thing that you do and say can impact their day and their worldview,” Wanker said. “And that can make the difference between positivity and negativity.”
Wanker transferred to Edinboro after discussing nursing school with Edinboro faculty member Andrea Chelton. Wanker learned she could become a nurse and eventually land a leadership and teaching role within the field.
Chelton, who has been a Nursing instructor at Edinboro since 2015, said she knew Wanker would become a nurse long before the Edinboro student did.
“Her capacity for caring and empathy – and a passion for helping others – are foundational to becoming a great nurse,” Chelton said. “She applies the same drive towards excellence in nursing as she does towards her powerlifting, work on her family farm, involvement in her church and other obligations.”
For 2021-2022, Wanker was named as one of the Addison Gibson Foundation Educational Grant scholarship recipients. To qualify for this funding, students must be residents of Western Pennsylvania and be enrolled full time at an eligible educational institution with a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher.
Wanker hopes to use this college experience – and the scholarship – to pursue a master’s degree in nursing and eventually become a nurse practitioner.
“I am thankful for this grant because it eases this burden and allows me to focus on what is most important – preparing myself to care for those in my community and providing optimal care to the patients I interact with now as a nurse aide,” she said.
In addition to her gains as a nursing student, Wanker has developed into a standout young powerlifter, earning professional status in July 2021.
In her first amateur meet at Iron Warfare in New York, Wanker maxed out at a 175-pound result in squats, 105 pounds in the bench press and a 250-pound deadlift.
Fast-forward to July’s 814 Summer Smackdown Invitational in Erie, where Wanker captured her personal best of a 475-pound squat, 305-pound bench press and 350-pound deadlift.
Wanker credits these gains to her transference of mental health struggles to competitive athletics. While balancing a full course load and nursing rotations, Wanker puts in hours at Absolute Health & Fitness in Corry, Pa., where she and her team continually support each other.
“I was dealing with a lot of anxiety and depression when I started lifting,” she said. “So, I was trying to find an outlet for this stress and not knowing what I’m doing with my life. The gym became a safe space for me because everyone is always supportive and there’s never any real negativity.”
