Loss, grief inspire CSU Trustees’ Award winner to pursue hospice care
Katrina Watson is what some might call an "old soul."
At just 21, the fourth-year Cal State Long Beach student is calm, thoughtful and drawn to the quieter corners of life, where stories tend to linger, and the often-overlooked find a voice.
So perhaps it is unsurprising that Watson’s path has led her to gerontology and hospice work, allowing her to help guide patients through the delicate terrain of elder care and palliative support.
"I find it easy to converse with older people, listen to them and meet them where they are,” the health care administration major said. “It’s a population I’m very comfortable with."
This kind of focused dedication is part of what led CSULB President Jane Close Conoley to nominate Watson for the prestigious 2024 CSU Trustees’ Award for Outstanding Achievement, given yearly to students who demonstrate superior academic performance, personal accomplishments, community service and financial need.
Watson will be recognized along with 22 other students — one from each CSU campus — at a Board of Trustees' meeting Sept. 24. This year marks the 40th anniversary of the awards, which are considered the system's highest recognition of student achievement. Each winner receives an endowed scholarship, and Watson has been named the 2024 William Randolph Hearst Foundation Scholar.
“Katrina Watson exemplifies the qualities of a deserving recipient," President Conoley said. “Her academic excellence, leadership and dedication to serving others make her a shining example of resilience, compassion and selflessness.”
I find it easy to converse with older people, listen to them and meet them where they are. It’s a population I’m very comfortable with.
In December, Watson will graduate summa cum laude with a bachelor’s degree from the College of Health and Human Services, along with a quadruple minor in gerontology, health humanities, management information systems and comparative world literature. She then will pursue her Master of Science in gerontology and hopes to see hospice care's focus on quality of life applied more broadly in elder care.
"One of the constants we’re asking is, ‘How are you feeling? How can we make you feel more comfortable?'” she said. “It can be easy to focus on quantity — how many years you could have left — without asking, ‘Is that what's most important to you? More time doesn't necessarily mean that you're able to do more with your life. I think it's important to respect people's medical decisions — even if it's not the decision that you would make for yourself.”
Watson is no stranger to loss herself.
In her nomination letter to the Board of Trustees, Conoley recognized the bumpy road Watson had traveled, calling the young woman “a firsthand witness to the impact of compassionate care."
Indeed, Watson has been both the recipient and the giver of compassionate care for much of her life. Her childhood was marked by emotional turbulence, and Watson leaned heavily on the unwavering comfort of her father and other older relatives. After her parents' divorce, her father was awarded full custody of her and her brother — but, by then, she was already 17 and about to face another wave of hardship.
She wrote about it in her scholarship essay:
"In 2022, my great-uncle passed away due to COVID-19 complications," she wrote. "My cousin passed away from mantle cell lymphoma, and my father received the diagnosis of thyroid cancer. A year later, my grandfather endured a six-month-long hospitalization due to chronic health issues stemming from his deployment in Vietnam, requiring multiple life-saving surgeries."
While carrying a full load of classes, she still managed to be with them — aiding and advocating — every step of the way. Her father's cancer went into remission, and her grandfather recovered. It never occurred to her not to care for them.
"I was raised on the idea of helping others," she said, "being involved in the community."
So when her great-uncle died in 2022, it was in Watson’s nature to begin making regular visits to his wife of 64 years.
More time doesn't necessarily mean that you're able to do more with your life. I think it's important to respect people's medical decisions — even if it's not the decision that you would make for yourself.
It turned out to be one of the best decisions she ever made.
Watson described her great-aunt as “the kind of woman where — you knew when you had a conversation with her, she was fully invested. She was right there with you in that moment. I feel like that's something very special.”
The relationship had a significant influence on her career path.
“When I was considering whether to pursue my master’s (in gerontology), and even when I started adding minors to my degree, I thought about, like, what in my life means the most to me — and a lot of it was just the time that I got to spend with her. The careful consideration she had for others.”
Watson continued those regular visits for the next two years — right up until her great-aunt’s sudden death in June.
“I saw her two days before she passed away,” Watson recalled. “None of us were expecting it. I spent the night at her house. We were both downstairs in the morning, and I stayed. I think we talked from like 10 a.m. until, like, 3 p.m."
Watson was heartbroken by the loss yet fully aware that such experiences would be unavoidable in her chosen industry.
“A lot of the people I work with are going to pass away before I do,” she said. “In some ways I felt it should be easier, especially since that’s an expected part of it. But death doesn't get easier. I think it's important to sit with it as it is.”
Watson plans to approach the healthcare industry with the respect and mindful compassion that her great-aunt showed to her.
"It’s challenging to be that present and that involved,” Watson said. “But I want to try."
