![\"Courtney](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sites.udmercy.edu\/campusconnection\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/106\/2025\/05\/christian_full.jpg?resize=993%2C420&ssl=1\")
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Each year, University of Detroit Mercy\u2019s Marketing & Communications department profiles members of the graduating classes. Students chosen were nominated by staff and faculty for their contributions to the life of the University.\u00a0Click here<\/a>\u00a0for more information about 2025 commencement exercises.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n Growing up outside of Detroit, Courtney Christian\u2019s early life was steeped in a family tradition of medicine.<\/p>\n Her mother, as well her mother’s side of the family, work in the field of medicine. Naturally, Christian thought to follow suit and explore health care, and so she began her academic career at University of Detroit Mercy in the Nursing program.<\/p>\n \u201cI liked the idea of a smaller campus that is more close-knit,\u201d she said. \u201cThat direct, one-on-one connection with the teachers that you get here, they care not only about you in the classroom, but outside of the classroom and in your career. They want to help you make those connections.\u201d<\/p>\n Christian spent two years in the Nursing program before realizing her path lay not necessarily by a patient\u2019s bedside, but more-so behind the scenes in shaping how care is delivered.<\/p>\n \u201cI still wanted to be in health care,\u201d she said. \u201cBut I want to be on the other side.\u201d<\/p>\n The switch to Health Services Administration, which added only a year to her studies, made more sense in terms of fit. Many courses she already took carried over.<\/p>\n On Saturday, Christian will graduate from UDM\u2019s College of Health Professions with her degree in Health Services Administration.<\/p>\n As a junior, Christian teamed up with other students for an artificial intelligence-based project called Detroit Urban Health AI Challenge, which the University hosted in partnership with Amazon Web Services.<\/p>\n This pitted her against other students and community stakeholders over a 48\u2011hour sprint challenge. Christian and her team\u2019s idea \u2014 a smart, interactive tool and study aid built for Nursing students \u201cto help bridge the gap between learning online versus actual, in\u2011person connection\u201d \u2014 was a winning one.<\/p>\n Beyond recognition, Christian received a $500 Amazon gift card, access to UDM-AWS innovation programs, and a $4,000 TechTown Detroit MVP program that allowed her team to develop a functional app and prototype. The team\u2019s proposal, which uses predictive modeling and targeted prompts, helped address low engagement at the Salvation Army\u2019s downtown rehabilitation center.<\/p>\n \u201cI didn\u2019t think we were going to win, but we did and it was awesome,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Christian is also a leader at heart and she made sure to take advantage of that by pursuing a minor in Leadership Studies. This culminated in a capstone project that connected her with elementary students, something she was familiar with by working multiple years in pediatric behavioral therapy. This experience tested her ability to apply administrative skills in real\u2011world settings and deepened her commitment to community health.<\/p>\n She cherishes being around family, often spending time with her younger siblings, who are 20 and 17. Christian also enjoys exploring downtown Detroit.<\/p>\n \u201cI like to read, so I like to go downtown because it has so many interesting spots,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Christian is not pursuing a typical career path in health care. She envisions a career in policy to leverage her health care background to inform systemic change.<\/p>\n \u201cI honestly would like to work in this area to create policies and regulations that make it easier for people,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Among the issues that fuel her passion, Christian points to maternal health disparities.<\/p>\n \u201cI find Black women’s mortality rate very interesting,\u201d she said. \u201cIt’s interesting that a Black woman can go and have a baby, and their chances of surviving are way lower than people of other races.\u201d<\/p>\n As her college career draws to a close, Christian hopes those who follow her will make the most of their UDM experience.<\/p>\n \u201cTake advantage of anything and everything that you can here,\u201d she said. \u201cYour time at college goes by so quick.\u201d<\/p>\n Graduation brings excitement mingled with uncertainty. Christian will soon begin a rotational program with DirectRX, learning every aspect of pharmacy administration and discovering where she fits best as she enters her professional career.<\/p>\n But Christian enters the next chapter of her life as she entered her first class: with curiosity, purpose, an eagerness to learn and time to find her footing.<\/p>\n \u2014 By Hisham Almadani.\u00a0<\/em>Follow Detroit Mercy on\u00a0Facebook<\/a>,\u00a0LinkedIn<\/a>,\u00a0X<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Instagram<\/a>. Have a story idea? Let us know by\u00a0submitting your idea<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Growing up outside of Detroit, Courtney Christian\u2019s early life was steeped in a family tradition of medicine. Her mother, as well her mother’s side of the family, work in the field of medicine. Naturally, Christian followed suit by studying at Detroit Mercy’s College of Health Professions & McAuley School of Nursing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":179,"featured_media":21948,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[6,4404],"tags":[19,6393,2355,1009,6993,1327],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sites.udmercy.edu\/campusconnection\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/106\/2025\/05\/christian_full.jpg?fit=1900%2C803&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pbwnTV-5HY","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/campusconnection\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21946"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/campusconnection\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/campusconnection\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/campusconnection\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/179"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/campusconnection\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21946"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/campusconnection\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21946\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21951,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/campusconnection\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21946\/revisions\/21951"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/campusconnection\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21948"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/campusconnection\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21946"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/campusconnection\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21946"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/campusconnection\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21946"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Courtney](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sites.udmercy.edu\/campusconnection\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/106\/2025\/05\/christian_side1.jpg?resize=300%2C409&ssl=1\")
UDM won Christian over with its intimate learning environment and dedicated faculty.<\/p>\n![\"Courtney](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sites.udmercy.edu\/campusconnection\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/106\/2025\/05\/christian_side2.jpg?resize=400%2C268&ssl=1\")
Outside school, Christian balances work and personal interests.<\/p>\n