“Nobody wants to talk about their failures, but I think it made me stronger.”
Claudia Pinedo is open about acknowledging she failed a class in her first semester at the University of Colorado Anschutz College of Nursing.
In 2023, she failed a class by two percentage points. It meant she would have to leave the BS in Nursing program and wait a year before returning.
“It was hard for me to fail at a dream that I really wanted to make happen,” she says.
Pinedo says that even though she was aware of academic resources, she never thought to use them until she was really struggling.
“I think everything got in my head, because I kept failing, but I saw my classmates acing exams, so I was so discouraged. I was thinking, ‘Why am I not getting the same grades as the people I’m studying with?’”
A professor encouraged her to reach out to the college’s Academic Success Team, but by then, Pinedo knew she wouldn’t be able to pass the class.
“I went into that exam with the mentality that I was failing,” she says. “And when I got the exam back, the professor said, ‘I’ll see you next summer’. It wasn’t ‘You failed’. So that gave me the confidence to come back.”
Pinedo worked with the college’s Academic Success Team, so she felt prepared when she returned to school in June 2024. She focused on learning medical terminology and new study techniques.
“It felt so reassuring that I had a support system at CU Anschutz Nursing even though I wasn’t actively a student,” she says. “Talking to the Academic Success team regularly was what kept me from completely dropping out because failing isn’t something everybody can come back from.”
And having those resources made her a better student and a better nurse. This time around, she never failed an exam and passed her classes with all As and Bs.
“It makes me realize that if I fail, I can get up and keep going. Failure isn’t a terminal thing. You’re not done. It made me realize I can do this,” she says.
A Caregiver’s Instinct
Before coming to CU Anschutz Nursing, Pinedo worked as a caregiver for a cancer patient. A single moment of intuition during a routine morning conversation put her on the path to nursing.
"One Sunday, I asked her what she wanted for breakfast, and she chose oatmeal," Pinedo says. "She never ate oatmeal. That was my first red flag that something was wrong."
Pinedo trusted her instinct. She called the patient's niece. Afterward, the woman was taken to the hospital, and after several tests, they confirmed her cancer had returned.
“The family thanked me for being so aware, and it made me realize I could do more to help patients,” she says. “That experience really pushed me to become a nurse.”
Pinedo, who grew up in Denver, then worked at Denver Health for the past eight years as a Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA). She fell in love with Denver Health and wants to continue her nursing career there, working in the ICU.
“I have to remind myself that I’m strong and I’m powerful. I’m proud of the nurse I’m becoming,” she says. “I wish I could go back and tell myself when I was struggling and failing to reach out and get help. There are people here to help. CU Anschutz Nursing has given me everything I need to be successful.”
