CU Nursing - Spring/Summer 2020 - 16

16

16
Crystal Santos swims with the fishes as a
Mystic Mermaid.

CLASS
NOTES
Nursing Student
Holds Unusual
Side Job: She's
a Mermaid

S

BY DAY, STUDENT CRYSTAL SANTOS WALKS THE
HALLWAYS OF THE COLLEGE OF NURSING. BY NIGHT,
SHE SWIMS WITH SHARKS. By Debra Melani
he hails from Denver, not Atlantica. She
swims in an encased pool, not an ocean.
And although she maybe thinks he is, her
dad is not a king.
But Crystal Santos rivals Disney's "Little
Mermaid" in many other ways.

For starters, the first-generation college
student overcame a rough childhood,
growing up in a neighborhood where she feared drive-by shootings and lost a
few friends to gang violence. Santos earned a bachelor's degree in biology and a
master's degree in biomedical science.
She has the toughness and the spirit of Disney's Ariel, volunteering in a morgue,
rock-climbing as a hobby, and now attending the University of Colorado College
of Nursing with her eyes on yet another degree. And she wasn't born a mermaid.
She became one. Beat that, Ariel.

PLAY VIDEO

"I mean, I'm a mermaid. How cool is that?"
said Santos, sipping tea at a coffee shop on
the Anschutz Medical Campus between work
and classes, still sporting her water-resistant
mermaid makeup.

SO YOU WANT TO BE A MERMAID? GOOD LUCK.

"But it's not just sitting around looking
pretty," Santos said. "It's really hard. Not everyone can do it, and it is very competitive."

It's been seven years since a friend suggested Santos apply at the Downtown
Aquarium in Denver (home of the Mystic Mermaids) when she was an undergraduate in need of a job. Her arm needed no twisting.

Becoming a mermaid took two interviews,
multiple timed swim tests, breath-holding
challenges (almost 3 minutes for Santos),

CU College of Nursing | Spring/Summer 2020



CU Nursing - Spring/Summer 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of CU Nursing - Spring/Summer 2020

CU Nursing - Spring/Summer 2020 - Cover1
CU Nursing - Spring/Summer 2020 - 2
CU Nursing - Spring/Summer 2020 - 3
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CU Nursing - Spring/Summer 2020 - Cover4
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