A DIFFERENT DIRECTION

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December 5, 2024

For information on admission to Notre Dame Prep, please click here. 

After a promising career in Colorado as a professional photographer and member of the ski patrol was shortchanged by the pandemic, alumna Jordan Mejaly returned to Michigan to become a nurse at Children's Hospital in Detroit. 

When 2010 alumna Jordan Mejaly finished up at Hope College where she majored in communications and minored in studio art, she headed west to Colorado and pursued a career in photography, specifically sports photography with a "focus" on skiers and snowboarders. It seemed the perfect place for her to enjoy much success — certainly no shortage of subject matter in Colorado.

And for a time, success is what she enjoyed.

"The job that initially brought me to Colorado was for EpicMix, a group of photographers who are available for guests at the top of the ski lifts," she said. "In my free time, I would also shoot mountain events such as the Dew Tour, and frequently brought my camera out for days on the slopes with friends. My photos were often shared by the professional athletes and I met quite a few of them as a result."

Mejaly also joined a ski patrol team in Colorado and worked on a team of medical responders for the resort that also handled explosives for avalanche mitigation. 

But the mountains of Colorado wanted even more from Mejaly, it seems, as she felt an even stronger calling toward healthcare and medicine.

Pandemic closed mountains

"I had gotten an EMT license in Colorado and my goal was to either elevate that license to paramedic or to pursue nursing in order to be a member of the Advanced Life Support team for patrol and work in the on-mountain hospital," said Mejaly, whose father, Joe Mejaly, is a 1978 alum of Notre Dame High School. Then, when the pandemic closed the mountains indefinitely, I moved home to quarantine with family."

Once fall came around, she said she had a decision to make: return to Colorado not knowing if the resort would be considered essential and reopen, or accept a job offer in Michigan as an ER tech and begin prerequisites for a nursing program at Oakland University. She planned to return to Colorado after getting her nursing degree, but life intervened again and, after passing her nursing boards in January of this year, she accepted an ER position at Detroit's Children's Hospital and the rest is history.

"I wanted something new and challenging for myself and that’s exactly what I got," she said. "Working with children is so consistently surprising and challenging, I couldn’t possibly name all of the ways. However, I am constantly in awe of the people I work with. Working the night shift is not for the faint of heart, but the level of camaraderie, teamwork and support shared by my fellow nurses is something I did not expect. I work with a close-knit group of people who are very passionate about our job."

In fact, last fall during Nurses Week, her fellow nurses voted her Rookie of the Year.

Shadowing athletic trainer Chris Polsinelli

Now regrowing her Michigan roots, this Rochester resident is retrospective about what this state and her high school had given her before she went west.

"My time at Notre Dame seems like many lifetimes ago, and in many ways it was," she said. "However, my passion for the medical field began there. I remember becoming involved with athletic training under Chris Polsinelli and developing an interest in the field. I would shadow Chris often and assist in any way that was within my scope as a student."

She noted that many of her fondest memories from high school involved sporting events with Polsinelli and others in athletic training and trying to learn as much as I could from them. 

"I like to think that my overriding desire to help others in various strenuous settings began at Notre Dame Prep."

And while she didn't ski for NDP's skiing program, a part of her wishes she had.

"Looking back, if I could change one thing, I would have skied for Notre Dame Prep," she adds. "Despite years of knowing how to ski, I still had to work extremely hard to become a good enough and strong enough skier to perform medical rescues on the mountain." 

Mejaly also keeps one hand in photography, however. 

"When I’m not at the hospital (or sleeping after a long shift), I still photograph friends, only now it’s more likely at CrossFit or wakesurfing than on a mountain skiing or snowboarding."

For information on admission to Notre Dame Prep, please click here.

Comments or questions? mkelly@ndpma.org

About Notre Dame Preparatory School
"At Notre Dame Prep, we inspire our students to become the best versions of themselves. We challenge them through an experience of academic excellence, focused on active, project-based learning. We invite them to explore a world of opportunities beyond the classroom. We guide them as they grow in spirituality within a community strong in its Catholic and Marist identity."

Notre Dame Preparatory School is a private, Catholic, independent, coeducational day school located in Oakland County. Notre Dame Preparatory School's upper school enrolls students in grades nine through twelve and has been named one of the nation's best 50 Catholic high schools (Acton Institute) four times since 2005. Notre Dame Prep's middle and lower schools enroll students in pre-kindergarten through grade eight. All three schools are International Baccalaureate "World Schools." NDP is conducted by the Marist Fathers and Brothers and is accredited by the Independent Schools Association of the Central States and the National Association of Independent Schools. For more on Notre Dame Preparatory School, visit the school’s home page at www.ndprep.org.